Of Flames, Roses, and Gold
by ZutarianNaiad
Summary: When Fire Lord Zuko under pressure to take a wife, can he come to terms with the past of the woman he loves? Can Mai put the past behind her and survive the present long enough to find the parts of her past she needs? Maiko, absolutely devoid of zutara.
1. Judgment Day

Of Flames, Roses, & Gold

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, would I seriously be writing fan fiction? I own nothing.

A/N: This story was not merely born from the desire to write for my second favorite Zuko ship. This was born from an insult to me in a reply to a review to a Maiko story. The author knows who he/she is, should he/she read this. I'm not bitter—I just don't like being insulted, oh anonymous author! But I do want to prove that a big Zutara-fan can indeed write well for contradicting ships. The only times that Zuko and Katara interact in this story is when he's doing business with the Water Tribes. Friends, maybe, sure, why not, just as long as it's clear that they have zero romantic interest in one another. Okay? Okay.

* * *

Mai looked down at her chains dully, thinking of the past events that had led her to them. She remembered playing with Azula as a child. Being branded as one of her group in the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. Their occasional trips into the capitol city and her eventual move to Omashu, or New Ozai. Being called away by Azula to come help her hunt down the Avatar. Fighting in Ba Sing Se. Fighting on the Day of Black Sun unhampered by the eclipse. Coming to a personal duel with Prince Zuko—and standing down, defecting against Fire Lord Ozai and Azula. And now she was in shackles.

The guards stopped, holding Mai's arms. She raised her head to look at the door they had reached. Imposing, magnificent, powerfully striking—all exactly the perfect preparation for what lay beyond. Two guards opened the door and she was lead to a plain red cushion in the center of the room. Her eyes lifted to the silhouette behind the wall of fire—the emotionless, anonymous figure and the person she knew who lay beneath. To the figure's right, its most trusted adviser, harder to see behind the flames.

"Leave," the Fire Lord's voice said to the guards. The four that had been there before, stationed at the corners of the room, stayed, motionless—barely perceptible from statues of fearsome armor. The only other inhabitants of the room were a clerk and secretary. _Twins_, Mai noted. She kept her eyes cast downward as her station demanded.

"This hearing is to pronounce judgment upon one noblewoman Mai, of the Shan-Tsai family. She has been accused of war crimes including the assistance in the successful coup of the government in Ba Sing Se, acting against the government of the Fire Nation, assisting in anarchist plots, and attempting to bring fatal harm upon the current and previous Fire Lords along with family and acquaintances. You are accused of accessory to murder of the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, namely one Suki. How do you plead?" the clerk asked, reading from his tablet as his twin took down every word.

"Not guilty," she said plainly. The clerk began to speak again, but she cut him off. "I have done many things that under certain interpretations could be construed as endangering, harmful, or even anarchist, but these things can all be logically explained and attested for." The secretary feverishly noted every word. His brother looked to the Fire Lord, and, seeing some sign of approval, continued.

"You may give your account of the events and your part in them at this time," he said.

Mai took a deep breath and began.

* * *

Fire Lord Zuko watched Mai carefully as she began her story. She started back when they were children, telling of her early involvement with Azula. Knowing all this and that the secretary would have anything he was not already aware of documented, Zuko turned to his uncle.

"What do you think, Uncle?" he asked quietly. The crackle of the fire and Mai's account would cover any speech he would make to his adviser, but he did not want to seem that he was merely ignoring the woman he was trying for war crimes.

"It is unwise to pass judgment too soon, Fire Lord Zuko."

"I'm not," he answered thoughtfully. "I'm merely asking what you think so far. Her tone, pose, expressions."

"Lady Mai has learned very well to mask her emotions, Zuko. The fair judge keeps his mind free from presuppositions and biases."

Zuko turned back to Mai. Her pale gold eyes were kept on the wall just below where the fire began. She spoke without emotion, her face was blank.

* * *

"I soon realized that Azula would do whatever she deemed necessary to achieve her goals. She intimidated me for a while and I began hiding my emotions more and more from her. Azula came to notice the specific talents and gifts that Ty Lee and I possessed that she lacked. She cultivated the friendship. I will admit that I had few problems socializing and being associated with Azula."

* * *

Zuko listened to Mai's account, taking note of her articulate speech patterns. She seemed to be wrapping up the act of her story dealing with her childhood.

* * *

"The Royal Fire Academy for Girls, though a prestigious institution, did little to occupy my mind outside of the classroom and I found myself almost constantly bored. I took a certain specific interest in small arms and began to teach myself their secrets. I read much, bought some of my own, and practiced often.

"I eventually graduated and the small group I shared with Azula and Ty Lee split to our separate ways. I went home to live with my family. I continued my weapons practice, admittedly without my parents' specific knowledge. I kept correspondence with Ty Lee and Azula. My parents finally found out about my weapons practice and I was able to convince them to allow me to continue my training with them."

* * *

Zuko noticed that a very small amount of emotion would ebb into her voice as she spoke if her paid particular attention.

* * *

"Eventually, my brother Tom Tom was born and not some time after that my father was called to become governor of New Ozai, formerly Omashu. My life there was particularly dull, for my parents forbade my to do any weapons practice that could not be accomplished in the comforts of my room.

"There were some unfortunate happenings, immediately followed by Azula and Ty Lee's visit. She told me how she was putting together a small team. I was very ready to leave the city of New Ozai for the prospect of something to employ my time as well as entertain me in general. The job sounded interesting as well; so I accepted. I soon after learned that the mission was to hunt down her estranged brother and paternal uncle."

"You admit of your own free will that you willingly engaged in a plot to capture both the Fire Lord and his trusted uncle?" the clerk asked.

"I learned after I had accepted her offer that the mission was to hunt for the then-refugees Zuko and Iroh, Azula's family members with whom I was familiar. I was still terribly unenthusiastic to stay in the city of New Ozai, and the prospect Azula proposed—to track down not only Zuko and Iroh, but the Avatar as well, promised not only a challenge but, but an interesting pursuit as well." She cleared her throat lightly and licked her lips before continuing.

"My next confrontations were with the Avatar and his company and a band of warriors from Kyoshi Island. I saw neither Zuko nor Iroh until Azula had successfully affected a coup." Her throat apparently dried again at that point, Zuko noted. "I observed the defeated Iroh in a cell and kept an occasional watch, though we hardly interacted. I interacted with Prince Zuko on a roughly daily basis for the time we were in Ba Sing Se. I remained loyal to Azula in her orders to keep a covert watch of her brother. He seemed to have made a full reform and acted quite well with us. We soon returned to the Fire Nation, immediately after Azula had set up a proper viceroy.

"What was your involvement with the death of the Kyoshi warrior known as Suki?" the clerk asked.

* * *

A/N: Thought I'd leave a miniature cliff hanger here. Flames will be tolerated merely for the fact that you have the right to think/say/ship what you wish. Meh.

I will remind you that this is a Maiko fic. No Zutara-ness. I know the beginning is slow, but it will hopefully get better.

Please write reviews! I'm a new fanfic author, so all feedbackgratitude! And please point out all grammar flaws you see other than sentence fragments (that's a style issue, no matter what the rules say).

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	2. Extenuating Circumstances

Chapter two—Extenuating Circumstances

Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Avatar. Shocking, no?

* * *

Mai took a deep breath as her thoughts drifted back to that day in the woods they had encountered the Kyoshi Warriors and the Avatar's lost sky bison. 

"After the Fire Nation assault on Ba Sing Se with the drill, Azula, Ty Lee, and I were doing some tracking that lead us into a forest. There we came across the Kyoshi Warriors. We fought and won, later using their uniforms as a ruse t gain the confidence of the Earth King." Mai coughed again, her throat growing tired of her own constant talking. This was literally the most she had ever talked in her life.

"We defeated them and Azula came up with the idea of using their uniforms. They had enough spares for us, but Azula didn't want to risk their telling anyone of our plots. She had Ty Lee and I tie the leader, Suki, to a tree." Her voice cracked and she looked down to her clenched fists. "And Azula executed her by a lightning bolt to the heart." Mai felt a lump forming in her throat. "I hadn't cried for three years before that." _The day Zuko was lost to his father,_ she thought to herself. "Ty Lee tried to stop her, but Azula said that she would either have to help or take the girl's place. I'd never actually seen someone die before…" she trailed off, at loss for words and not wanting to cry. She battled with herself for control of her emotions. She took a long, deeply shuddering breath and choked a sob down before it had time to develop.

"Ty Lee and I shared accommodations in Azula's caravan. That night we both cried. I made her promise never to tell anyone." A single tear rolled agonizingly slowly down her cheek as she spoke. She took a more even breath and raised her head somewhat. She continued her account.

"Azula simply went over to her and took the headpiece from the warrior Suki's head. She told us to grab supplies from the other warriors that we would need which weren't part of the uniforms. Ty Lee and I did this silently. The warriors were silently crying, already mourning for their fallen comrade and most likely for themselves as well. While these things were happening Azula was talking about the importance that they not tell people of what had happened. One of them, Mizu, another girl called her, stood and cried how the warrior Suki's death would be avenged and she would never let Azula succeed." Mai stopped and swallowed hard. She then regained her composure once more and continued. "Azula sent a blast of fire to her chest and she fell backward. Another warrior caught her. Ty Lee and I stood off, each of us at some distance at Azula's sides. The warrior she'd just hit was gasping and saying things through clenched teeth. Azula started talking about examples and things like that. She was so cold…." Mai took another deep breath and her face took its original mask.

"She made a single flame from her forefinger and middle. She told the warriors to move away from the warrior Mizu. She made a deep cauterized cut diagonally across the girl's torso. She said that if the girl lived through that, she should come after Azula again, because the spirits obviously didn't want her dead. Azula then turned to the rest and said that they'd be punished… in ways worse than death if they breathed a word of what had happened. She talked smoothly about how no one would believe them, how Avatar Kyoshi would be ashamed, how it would be too late even if they did speak. She said that, just for insurance, we'd take the body of their former leader. Until we re-joined the caravan, she was with me on my mount. We put her in a coffin, which was later released into Lake Laogai. It was waterproof, but extremely heavy—it couldn't have drifted far from where it was dropped. I could show you where. Ty Lee said she couldn't bear to remember, and with some of her techniques, she made herself forget. She had nightmares that night, but not after and she didn't seem to remember much of it after. I'm glad she didn't lose her innocence there because of Azula.

"So, yes, I did aid Azula in the murder of the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki," she said, addressing the clerk.

* * *

Zuko waited for Mai to finish. He then knocked sharply three times to a panel to his left. A servant quickly appeared from a hidden passage in the wall near the clerk and secretary, waiting silently for orders. Zuko lowered the wall of flame to show his face and give his commands.

"A cup of water for the accused," he said plainly yet clearly. The servant waited one second more, the bowed a right angle and left. Zuko heard his uncle pour two cups of tea on his right and accepted the cup he was handed. "We will wait ten minutes before continuing the hearing," he ordered, the turned to face his uncle.

Zuko cursed darkly. "Most of what Mai's being accused of is Azula's fault! If she'd stood up against her actions, Azula probably would've killed her anyway. I can't much prosecute her for war crimes if she was only acting in the interests of her mother nation," he said. "Spirits, I hate politics." He cursed again and drank his tea.

"The sweetest tea cannot change the taste of a bitter spirit," Iroh versed to him calmly. "Though you must remain objective to the facts. Mai was an accessory to murder, a murder that can and probably is viewed as a war crime."

"Extenuating circumstances," Zuko said. "She obviously didn't want to be part of it. You saw her—heard her. Mai masks emotion; she doesn't fake it. That remorse was true. I'd be some kind of monster for holding her to that crime." He cursed again.

"That's not a good habit to start, Fire Lord Zuko," Iroh advised him. "And you are doing very well with a fair judgment. You accept the facts in truth and justice rather than just plain facts. It is yet too soon to make up your mind Lord Zuko." His nephew nodded, thinking of his sister.

* * *

"The hearing will now continue," the clerk announced after Zuko's appointed time had passed. "If the accused will now go on with her story, please."

Mai took another deep breath and began to speak. "After then Prince Zuko joined with his sister, we interacted more. After about two weeks, Azula announced we would be going back to the Fire Nation. We traveled quickly back to the capital, and Zuko was received with many mixed feelings from the nobility. I spent my days in whatever tasks Azula sent me to, and in the company of Ty Lee and occasionally Prince Zuko. My family was still in the city of New Ozai, though we kept correspondence. Soon, Azula told us of reports of two Water Tribe and two others, most likely the Avatar and his earthbending teacher, traveling through the Fire Nation. We prepared for what this could mean. Eventually, the Day of Black Sun came.

"I remember how they came on that day, with a band of guerilla fighters. Azula gave each of us, Zuko, Ty Lee, and me, a garrison of soldiers. We fought, gaining some and losing some. I heard reports that Zuko had defected and was fighting through the palace with the Avatar. I couldn't believe this and went to see for myself and to attempt to stop the Avatar. We met in the main dining hall. There was Zuko, the waterbender, Iroh, who had been a prisoner, and the Avatar. He told the Avatar, his uncle, and the waterbender to go while he dealt with me. The three went on, and Zuko fought with twin blades.

"Due to certain mixed feelings I'd had to him, I fought bitterly, as though I'd been betrayed. He tried the whole time to convince me that it was time for the war to end and the Avatar was right. I lost my will to fight him soon and stood down. He went on after the Avatar. I battled within myself at that point, and came to see the truth in Zuko's words. I went to Ty Lee and convinced her of this. We went on, taking over Zuko's melee battle with his sister. We were better fighters in hand to hand and range than her. She fought as an enraged tiger, yet kept her cold strategy and emotionless style of combat. We eventually beat her. Ty Lee incapacitated her from the neck down, and I redoubled it by giving her enough Shirshu venom stilettos to take down a bison much larger than the Avatar's. Honestly, it's a miracle she survived. She was in a coma for six days after that.

"Ty Lee and I were taken into protective custody after that, though it was comparatively comfortable. We were separated so we couldn't make stories to fit with each other, as is the common process of law." Mai finished her words emotionlessly and turned her eyes to Fire Lord Zuko behind his flames.

"I will now present my closing arguments, if you please," she stated blandly. The clerk agreed and she composed herself to speak again.

"I am accused of trying to bring fatal harm on many people. I have tried to detain them, but specifically without harm. The waterbender who travels with the Avatar can attest that I immobilized her by pinning her wristbands to a tree, and many instances similar. I have not sought undue bloodshed. I have sought to bring harm on people that Azula has deemed enemies, though that was in the interests of war.

"I admit that I was accessory to the murder of the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. I have much remorse for these actions and would want to show where the coffin containing her was left. My actions were always in what I thought to be best, most especially for my nation. I am no anarchist.

"Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko and General Iroh, for giving me a fair trial," she finished, and bowed her head. "Though I will say this one last thing." Mai seemed to consider her shackles for a moment, and then wrenched them somewhat painfully across the muscle of her left wrist. She was careful to use her knowledge of anatomy to avoid any veins and had only torn skin and was bleeding from capillaries. "I swear my undying loyalty to you, Fire Lord Zuko, and the Fire Nation you govern. I would never falter from any order from you. I swear my service in whatever life I have left." She ended her oath by marking her right hand with her left smallest finger remarkably neatly with the kanji for loyalty, adding marks above each eye with her right thumb.

The secretary and his twin made some final notes and he announced the trial was over. Fire Lord Zuko rose and left, followed by General Iroh. Guards came and took Mai, careful to avoid her injured hand. A medic rapidly arrived to bandage her wound and she heard talk of a suicide watch. She scoffed inwardly at this, and then settled back onto the simple cot in her cell, awaiting judgment.

* * *

"I think she was serious about her oath, Uncle. Mai is serious—she wouldn't make a blood oath if she didn't mean it. Azula never commanded that kind of loyalty from her," Zuko said, pacing around his study as his uncle poured tea for them both. "She's right—she did those things in war, prompted by Azula. She's no war criminal."

"And your judgment is, Fire Lord Zuko?" his uncle said from his comfortable seat.

"Extenuating circumstances to her crimes, if any. The Earth Kingdom will want some punishment…. It would probably be best to send her off to find the remains of the Kyoshi Warriors' late leader. That way, she's performing some service to the kingdom the Fire Nation did much to, atoning for her actions in the eyes of Kyoshi Island." He rubbed his chin and scowled as he spoke.

"And Ty Lee?" Iroh asked, angling his head to his nephew, who had taken a spot near the windows of his study. They'd heard Ty Lee's account the day before. Her story was much like Mai's, though a lot sketchier on the death of Suki. She had admitted to actively repressing the memories with her skills.

"…She wouldn't be too much help, since she can't remember much of the Kyoshi Warrior's death. The action may make her remember, but that punishment would be too cruel after what Mai said. I've got to give her some puppet punishment, at least. Some service to Ba Sing Se?" he said, looking to his uncle. "I don't want to banish people, not even for a restricted time. But the Earth Kingdom will want some justice." He cursed under his breath and studied the setting sun's light on the sky.

"Ty Lee I believe would make an excellent Goodwill Ambassador," Iroh offered, rising. He walked over to his nephew and gave him a cup of tea. "She will not be making negotiations for the Fire Nation, merely showing that we are not the monsters of the past they fear." Zuko grinned to the orange sky.

"Sounds perfect for her, Uncle. I'll send Mai to recover the… remains… of the Kyoshi Warrior and Ty Lee as a goodwill ambassador. Thank you, Uncle," he said, accepting his tea.

* * *

Mai and Ty Lee were called together for a final hearing in the Fire Lord's main audience hall. Ty Lee's close family and a representative of Mai's (a cousin of hers), were there. The same clerk and secretary were at the head of the room below the Fire Lord.

"This day in the reign of Fire Lord Zuko, the judgment will be placed upon Ladies Ty Lee of the Sung Family of Sung Valley and Mai of the Shan-Tsai Family. Witnesses attest to the total legitimacy of the trials and judgment. The families, or representatives, have been allowed to hear the judgment of their daughters. Please stand for the arrival of the Fire Lord," the clerk said, reciting the necessary formalities of the law as his twin took them down precisely. The crowd stood as Zuko and Iroh arrived. They sat, and Zuko nodded to the clerk. "You may be seated. Do the families have any final statements to their daughters before the sentence is passed?" One person of Ty Lee's family stood, his face grave.

"You haven't been the perfect daughter, Ty Lee. You have risked shame on us from time to time, even. But regardless of your past actions and certain lack of discretion in areas, we still love you and wish you well." Ty Lee blanched and fought tears visibly at her father's assessment of her. Now Mai's cousin stood.

"Mai Shan Tsai. Your parents have sent a letter ahead to be read," he stated. "'Mai, we love you. We were proud to hear you had gone into personal service with Princess Azula, but incredibly more glad to hear your final choice of loyalties. No matter how you are judged, we care for you with honor, our beautiful daughter. Sincerely and with all our love, Father, Mother, and Tom Tom.' They included a possession for her, if it may be given," Mai's cousin said, holding something out. It was her mother's favorite hair comb, a fine copper inlaid with gold and amber, the Fire Nation symbol carved in jet at the center. The clerk called for it, examined the article, and looked to Zuko. He nodded visibly, and the clerk gave it to a near guard to hand to Mai. She took it, running her expert fingers over every detail of the exquisite comb. Ty Lee looked on sadly, a bittersweet longing in her eyes. Mai offered one hand to her friend and they turned to the Fire Lord.

"In review of the crimes these women have been accused of, I was most careful of the many extenuating circumstances involved in their cases," Zuko began, his voice sounding clear and commanding. "I have decided on judgment for each. Ty Lee of the Sing Family, step forward." Mai gave Ty Lee's hand a last squeeze, earning a thankful look of bravery from her.

"I have decided, with great assistance from my trusted advisor General Iroh, that you shall serve as a Goodwill Ambassador to the Earth Kingdom. You will be welcomed back with all honors once you have made a circuit of the Earth Kingdom cities visited by Azula. Your service will be most appreciated and supportive of the Fire Nation and the relations to the Earth Kingdom."

Ty Lee's family refrained from cheering, though there was a visible sigh of relief from them. Mai smiled to her friend, not allowing her own apprehension to quell the blooming happiness of her long time friend. A guard removed her handcuffs and she enthusiastically thanked her in hushed tones for all the help she's given. Mai silently congratulated her and awaited her own sentence. Ty Lee shook her head to a guard trying to wave her to sit with her family, preferring to stay at Mai's side. With a guard in between them. She shrugged and gave a heartening look to her friend.

"Lady Mai of the Shan Tsai Family," the clerk read in a monotone. "Please step forward to receive judgment." Mai did so, keeping her eyes on Zuko.

"Mai," he began in a serious tone. "You have shared an amount of information on the death of the late leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. You will lead a party to recover her remains. Any lost honor will be returned the moment you complete this task and you are welcomed with open arms back to the Fire Nation. Your weapons will be returned to you when you are introduced to the team you will be leading. Your travels will start from the city of Omashu. You will be allowed one week to prepare before setting off for the Earth Kingdom with Ty Lee of Sung. Do you understand?" Zuko asked finally. His statement had been more of a mission brief than a sentence of judgment, Mai noted.

"I accept the Fire Lord's judgment with gladness," she answered, bowing to her sovereign. A guard then removed her manacles and she was hugged earnestly by Ty Lee. They then split to their families and waited to be dismissed. The clerk made some announcement of an invitation to eat with the Fire Lord and they were sent out.

Mai looked to her cousin as he told her of accommodations and plans as he led her to the suite she was allowed in the palace. He eventually finished, saying that she must be tired from her ordeals, and let her alone to rest before the meal that evening.

She sighed as she stretched out on her bed, thinking of the recent events that had led her to the silks she now lay upon. With her eyes closed she said a silent prayer of thanks and fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: I promise I promise I promise that the Maiko romance/feelings are coming soon. But I want things realistic, not just some slapped together half-baked effort. For all the Maiko fans out there, I am going to make this good. And, yes, I think Mai would've cried when she heard about Zuko's scar/banishment.

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	3. Rumors

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar. -le sigh-

Me: I like Mai. She's cool and deserves to be happy. So here's another chapter.

Mai: When are you getting to the Maiko part?

E.: Would you just randomly confess your love in some cheesy scene with a heavy feeling of happily ever after fluff?

Mai: No.

Me: Then wait for it to come in the plot!

* * *

Mai combed her hair slowly, purposefully. Her once perfectly manicured nails were clipped short, colorless, and damaged. She grimaced at the bandage on her wrist. _There are probably rumors of attempted suicide floating around. Agni, that's going to be awkward._ She picked up her mother's comb and considered it. She'd intended to fix it into her customary buns, though it seemed a shame not to use the beautiful piece. She twisted most of her hair into a single bun with hair coming in a tail behind it, fixing it in place with her mother's comb. She let her customary tails hang in front. She slipped on a simple, deep red kimono with a cream colored obi. She considered her reflection. She didn't often dress so… femininely. She wore no cosmetics or jewelry. 

A knock sounded at Mai's door. Without her permission, Ty Lee burst in, quickly closing it behind her. She looked…different. Her hair was in the same braid as always, though it was wound with a red ribbon. Her usual comparatively revealing outfit was gone, replaced with what looked very much like a…habit, Mai noted. Ty Lee braced herself against the door, almost as though afraid someone were about to break it down in pursuit of her.

"Um… Nice habit, Ty Lee. Are your parents sending you off to become a Fire Temple Dedicate?" Mai asked, walking over to her friend and moving to gently pry her from the door. She was dressed in a slightly overlong set of robes that looked a bit big for her. Her collar bone was not visible in the layers of burgundy and she looked utterly shapeless. It was hard to tell if the outfit fit her figure or personality less.

"I'm lucky if they don't send me off to a convent!" she answered almost sarcastically. "Seriously, Zuko's ambassador thing saved my hide for sure." At Mai's touch she seemed to become aware of her state against the door and stepped away with her usual bouncy grace, despite her attitude. "Can you believe what my father said? I'm lucky I didn't die from humiliation! 'We love you anyway, our little indiscretion of a daughter!'" she mimicked, taking the same pose her father had in the Fire Lord's hearing.

"Well, at least you can get away to the Earth Kingdom for about a year," Mai reminded her with a shrug. She walked over to her desk and retrieved a piece of stationary, brush, and ink bottle.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee asked, original personality showing through.

"Writing a letter to my parents," Mai answered. "I want them to get the truth from me before some gossip about suicide attempts and banishment reaches them."

"Oh… good plan. Don't think my parents would believe a word of what I said. Ha…I may not even come back from the Earth kingdom, just rejoin the circus when I'm done. With the ambassador thing. Or maybe before I'm done…" she trailed off wistfully as Mai neatly printed out her calligraphy. "So what are you doing until dinner?" she asked randomly.

"No particular idea. Probably something to do with my cousin who was at the hearing," Mai answered vaguely. "You?"

"Hiding from my family before they can marry me off in the five days they still have me," she answered, tugging at her robes.

"Hey Mai?" she asked after a pause. Mai lifted her gaze to her uncomfortably dressed friend. "I heard some rumors of how you'd been made Zuko's personal assassin. I mean, what's the real story to that?" Mai groaned and backed her chair away from the desk.

"I swore my undying loyalty to Fire Lord Zuko. I said I'd perform any order he gave, so I suppose that the people twisted that to my being an assassin. Agni, why are people such fools with gossip?" She stood and went to a pitcher of water in one of the bedside tables.

"One more question, if you don't mind," Ty Lee prodded, halfway pursuing her friend.

"Fine," Mai answered, wishing very much to quell any immediate rumors. She poured a glass of water and lifted it to her unpainted lips.

"I heard that you'd confessed eternal love for Zuko. Did you?" Mai coughed a bit, trying to choke on the water. Though she noted that the incident proved an excellent cover for her soon-to-be furious blush.

"I did _not_ confess eternal love for Fire Lord Zuko. Where in Agni's name did you hear that?" she asked, fighting the blush down. Ty Lee examined the ceiling innocently.

"Um… maybe from my mother, just a little…" she answered, avoiding Mai's eyes. "And she may, the tiniest little bit, just possibly have heard it from, that is, this in entirely unconfirmed and in very high doubt, maybe, _possibly_, though not too likely from your cousin, though I very much doubt that." Mai decoded Ty Lee's words to mean that her cousin was spreading rumors about her. Her eyes took a cast sharp and cold as any of her knives had ever possessed. "But I really don't think he would spread rumors about you!" Ty Lee tried to persuade her friend upon seeing that deadly look in her eyes.

"We'll see," Mai said, then returned to her letter.

* * *

"Mai—May I come in, cousin? It's Tinh," her relative said as dinner approached. 

"Come in," she answered from her desk. Ty Lee had sneaked off to her room to attempt to procure a different outfit before being caught by her family members. Mai had amused herself with catching up on current events with a newspaper. Tinh entered and bowed politely to his cousin, and stood in the area until she motioned for him to be seated. _So Tinh cares about protocol and etiquette,_ Mai noted, sitting opposite him. She sized him up as she often had people she were about to fight. _Dressed neatly, though not particularly expensively. Well enough for a dinner with the Fire Lord. He's sizing me up. He neglected to tell his lest name when introducing himself, so he's trying to act familiar or friendly to me._ She rose and sent for tea, using a hidden panel and tag-pulley system to do so. She sat again and waited for her cousin to start speaking.

"It's been so long, Mai," he said with a smile. He wasn't generally handsome, though certainly not homely either. "When was the last time? I think your Fire Academy Graduation at thirteen, correct?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, that sounds about right. How is my extended family?" Mai asked politely, waiting for the tea.

"Oh, very well. The crops grow well in the volcanic soil," he commented. Whereas Mai's family made their money in politics and names with silver trading, on her mother's side, they were… somewhat lesser nobles, their lands at the bases of volcanoes growing and making profit from farmers. They reminded her of the Earth Kingdom, no matter how delicious the vegetables from that region were. "How was life in the Earth Kingdom?"

"Dull as life everywhere else, but with milder summers and different scenery." The tea finally arrived and Mai stood to receive it. Her guest graciously accepted it and they drank the fragrant brew in silence for a moment.

"Tinh? I've heard some unsettling rumors about myself floating around. What would you happen to know of this?" she asked casually, pouring herself another cup of jasmine.

"I too have heard certain misinformed people speaking of you in a way that sounded much like gossip. Fear not, dear cousin, I was sure to correct them," Tinh said, patting Mia's knee as though she were a child. She used her teacup to cover the annoyance playing rebelliously over the lower part of her face.

"And what exactly did you tell them, most honored relative?" she asked, restraining the sarcasm that threatened her composure.

"Merely that the bandage on your wrist is not the result of an attempt to do yourself harm, but as part of a blood oath to the Fire Lord," he answered lightly, drinking his tea.

"What did you say I promised, Tinh?" she asked.

"Oh? I believe it was something on loyalty, service, love, that sort of thing," Tinh said nonchalantly. Mai stopped herself from biting her tongue to keep silence, merely keeping the words down as best she was able.

"Tinh, don't pretend to know me. Don't think of me as a friend. And never speak on subjects concerning myself that you know nothing about, understand? You have made a fool of yourself and a lying, lovesick girl out of me. You will amend your words and redeem my reputation, understood, cousin?" Mai's words dripped with the lethal intimidation Azula had used before. She could see the same fear of mere words blooming in her cousin that Azula had inspired in battalions of men before. Mai didn't like the idea of becoming like Azula, but for now using her techniques served well.

"Mai—I apologize most heartily, my cousin. I had no idea you were so minded! I will recant my words as soon as possible! Please forgive my error filled ways," he begged as he stood and made a ninety degree bow to her. Mai was a bit taken aback by this response, but decided o accept it.

"Let me speak for myself in the future on such subjects, cousin Tinh," she said. "And thank you for standing against the idea that I would have attempted to kill myself. Please just do not speak on certain subjects unless you know them to be true," she finished, motioning for him to sit. _I'm no so much like Azula,_ she thought. _Azula wouldn't be trying to comfort him at least._

"If I may be so bold, Mai, I was quite sure of what I said."

"Do not be so bold in the future Tinh. As I said—you don't know me." Mai stood, and found with some measure of annoyance that the hairstyle she'd chosen was coming loose. Unaccustomed to such feelings of vanity, she decided to redo it to her usual style as soon as this man was gone.

"I apologize, Mai. I will wait outside your rooms to escort you to dinner. But first, there is a gift I would share with you," he said, standing also. He gave her a cloth wrapped item, bowed and left.

Her limp hair left ignored for a moment, Mai unwrapped this gift. It was a journal with the kanji for loyalty embossed on the front cover. She held in her right hand, carefully flipping through the gilt trimmed pages with her left. The journal must have cost a relative fortune, she noted. In the back cover in excellent calligraphy was a tanka poem:

Loyalty of heart

Shall neither be bought nor sold.

It is a gift of love,

Given only to those who

Are worthy to brave trials.

Mai mouthed the words numbly as she read. This cousin may not know her too well, yet he knew how to give gifts certainly. She tucked it into her obi and quickly dealt with her hair. Mai tucked her mother's comb into one bun and set off to join her cousin.

* * *

A/N: Why is it that whenever I get to liking a story, the plot gets away from me? She was supposed to go to dinner and confront gossiping noble ladies! Oh well… And her cousin's name is Vietnamese for mindful/aware 

E.: Reviews for more updates soon!

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	4. Bonus chapter: Consider It a Gift

Disclaimer: Do you seriously think there is any possibility I could own Avatar: tLA? I don't.

A/N: This is kind of a bonus chapter/flashback thingie. It's a prize for all my wonderful reviewers: dins, Xielas, danyelldmd, Alya Riddle, and aldericon. Thank you so much!

I'm not used to writing something intensively with Ozai's Angels (or too much Zuko for that matter. Well, come to think of it, I'm pretty new to this whole thing… So please tell me if I've got them a bit OC. Kay, thanks, R&R!

* * *

"You know Mai, it's got to be destiny," Ty Lee randomly said to her friend as they walked through the Earth King's palace. "I mean, Azula calling me away from the circus was like a hint from the universe, and this is like a written thing right in front of your face!" 

"Ty Lee, please be more clear as to _what_ exactly is so terribly clear," Mai answered uninterestedly, examining her nails as she walked. Ty Lee half scoffed, half groaned and bounce in front of her friend, walking backwards.

"You and Zuko!" she said, leaping back on one leg. "It could've been when you were nine and he was ten, but then he lost his honor in a fight with his father," Ty Lee explained, going on a different limb for each point. She landed on her left hand to make the last: "And now he's got it back!" She shifted to both arms and walked backwards on them, keeping pace with Mai. "So-you-can-be-to-ge-ther!" Finding that position a bit hard for normal conversation, she shifted back to normal walking.

Mai looked to the ceiling. "We've got bigger issues than this," she said, trying to defer the subject. She silently cursed the blush rising in her cheeks.

"Mai." Ty Lee fell into step next to her friend, a look of understanding on her face. "You've spent almost all the time I've known you all bottled up in yourself! You can lie to everyone about how you feel, and you can hide it all you want, but don't lie to yourself, Mai. You deserve to be happy! Even if you won't admit it," she said, looking into her friend's face with an earnest expression. Mai made eye contact with her, and then broke it.

"I'll think about it, Ty Lee. We've got some errands to run for Azula in the city. Why she can't have Dai Li agents pick up her informants' reports, I have no idea." The turned a corner, nearly running into Zuko, who seemed to be in a bit of a hurry.

"Oh—Mai, Ty Lee. I've been looking for you. Azula wants me to accompany you on your trip to the city," he notified them, not at all breathless from his effort.

"Fine," Mai answered blandly, looking away. She had no idea why talking to Zuko made her lose nearly all ability to speak any but monosyllabic words. Her thought process went into high gear, yet her speech nearly screeched to a halt. Agni, it was annoying.

"Right, Zuko! We'll see you at the main stairs in about fifteen minutes, agreed? All right, we'll see you there," she said, then ushered Mai off. After a pause she seemed not to be able to contain herself any longer. "That went well, right? At least you didn't babble incoherently or knock him out like I do when I like a guy," she said in her best encouraging tone. Mai merely looked on darkly and continued walking until she reached her room to retrieve a few things before they headed out.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Mai and Ty Lee met Zuko at the front of the palace, at the head of the grand stairs. 

"So, where are we headed?" Zuko asked conversationally as they began to descend the flight.

"We're going to a meeting place to collect some reports for Azula," Mai answered, looking off to the city.

"And I was hoping we could take a detour on the way back to visit this bazaar in the Second Ring. I heard it was the market day and I want to see what's there," Ty Lee mentioned bouncily.

"Sounds fine to me," Zuko mentioned with a shrug. Mai nodded.

* * *

The collection went smoothly. Mai tucked the papers into a bag she carried and walked beside Ty Lee as she talked about things she was thinking of buying at the market. 

The market was bustling—crowded with people buying and selling, trying to forget for twenty minutes that their entire lives had been overturned by a fifteen year old girl. At the sight of the now legendary scar on Zuko's face and the revealed false Kyoshi warriors, the market began to empty. Shopkeepers looked apprehensively at the friends of their new dictator.

Ty Lee, willfully oblivious to the sudden change in their auras, bounded over to a silk merchant and began appraising his wares. Mai and Zuko followed at an even pace, side by side.

"It's almost more pleasant not knowing what they're thinking right now," Zuko muttered to Mai.

"What do you mean?" she replied without specific thought. She caught herself and quelled the urge to look at him, not wanting her blush to show.

"Them—the merchants. Just look at them and you can tell exactly what they think as they look at us. We chased away their business just by coming here. We've endangered their livelihood and their children's future. But it's almost more pleasant not to hear exactly what they think of us than it is to simply know at a glance." Mai had never heard Zuko speak like this before—he was commanding, impressive, almost regal. His words demanded authority by their quality, whereas his sister's demanded it by manipulation and fear. Mai looked up at him, how impressed she was showing on her face without a blush. Zuko smiled down at her. "But soon they'll grow used to Fire Nation rule, and these things won't be problems anymore." Mai looked back down again, heat rising in her face. _He smiled… at me…_ she thought… well, _girlishly._ They reached Ty Lee, who was deliberating between two scarves—one hot pink, the other a cherry blossom shade.

"Well, the cherry blossom one is prettier with the embroidered edges, but the hot pink one would go better with my outfit…. I wonder which matches my aura better…. Mai? Which one do you think?"

"Cherry blossom," Mai answered, choosing the one she could better stand seeing often. She absentmindedly fingered a dark red silk kerchief with black edging. In the center in black was the Fire Nation insignia. She remembered that in Ba Sing Se, there was no war, thus, no reason to fear the Fire Nation and hate its symbol. Until now.

"That one suits you," Zuko commented, plucking it down and holding it to her face. Mai felt warmth rising in her, though it wasn't a blush this time—it felt like…joy. Pure joy.

"I was thinking that," she answered with a smile. Ty Lee discretely stepped over to the flower kiosk next, leaving them alone for a moment. Mai began to feel in her bag for a coin to pay for it

"Let me," Zuko said swiftly, handing the man his money. He offered the kerchief to Mai. "Consider it a gift," he told her warmly. Mai smiled and tucked it into her sleeve. Ty Lee stepped over then and stuck a deep red orchid spotted in black behind one of Mai's ears.

"They had your color," she said simply, taking Mai's side that Zuko wasn't on.

* * *

Mai stepped out of her room and joined her cousin to walk to dinner with the Fire Lord together. 

"Mai—wait," Tinh said, grabbing something off the floor behind her. "You dropped this," he told her, handing his cousin the black and red kerchief. "It suits you. Where did you get it?"

"It was a gift," Mai answered. "From a loved one." She accepted it, tucking it securely into her sleeve where her stiletto holsters usually rested.

* * *

A/N: I thought it was high time to put some bona fide interaction between Mai and Zuko. And you know Ty Lee is going to be rambling about destiny for those two now that he's 'on their side' (not that I believe _that_ too much). Hope you enjoyed my attempt at fluff mixed with whatever that was when Zuko was talking about the merchants (empathy?). And seriously, I want to prove that I can write well for something I don't actively ship, but any and all advice is valued greatly. Thanks for everything, reading public! 

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	5. Dinner with Royalty

Disclaimer: Avatar is owned by Mike & Bryan, Nickelodeon, and Viacom. Not ZFF.

* * *

Tinh and Mai walked to dinner in relative silence, each seemingly lost in some train of thought or another. They arrived at the dining hall, an impressive location somewhat famous to those who knew well of it. The large mahogany columns and recessed walls with coves harboring antique armor and priceless porcelain vases large enough to hold a man each gave the room an appearance of size and wealth. The gold inlaid crown molding lining the shadowbox ceiling and many braziers gave a striking golden light to the room among the cherry wood furnishings. Servants stood by waiting and passing in and out of expertly hidden doorways among the architecture. Mai had only eaten there three times before, once when Azula had turned one year old and her family was invited (though she had no memory of that time), once when she was invited after graduating the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, and the last time just before her father had been called to become governor of Omashu. It never failed to take her breath away, even just for a moment. 

A female servant dressed in the usual uniform of gray and red seated Mai across from Ty Lee, Tinh on her left. On her right was a small dais at the head of the table where the Fire Lord and another would sit. Typically the second was the Fire Lady, yet Zuko had taken to having his uncle sit with him there. Ty Lee had escaped her monk-like garment, and though she wasn't in her typical garb, the dress she wore suited her much better than the habit. She beamed at Mai as her father, seated on her right, scowled. Mai nodded to her friend and sat gracefully at the table, her cousin following suit when she was seated.

"This is kind of exciting, isn't it Mai? I mean, it's not every day you get to eat with the Fire Lord in the Royal Dining Hall. The aura of the room matches the scenery perfectly," Ty Lee commented. "Though he is still just Zuko, so it shouldn't be too different from when we ate with him before the Day of Black Sun." Ty Lee winced suddenly and Mai guessed that Ty Lee's father had tried to stop her from speaking so familiarly about Zuko.

"Well, it stands to reason it would be a bit different," Mai said, trying to make a bit of a compromise; "but not drastically so, most likely." She was saved from further attempts at small talk in front of Ty Lee's father by the announcement of the Fire Lord's coming. All stood to receive him.

Zuko fairly cantered up to the dais, apparently not one for the pomp and show that seemed to be expected. Iroh followed at an even pace behind his nephew. Zuko sat, then Iroh, then the rest of the room. Servants swiftly came, pouring tea and handing out steaming bowls of soup to the guests according to their seats. _Egg drop soup,_ Mai noted. Zuko began to eat, then Iroh. Now the rest started, having gotten the cue from their sovereign. _The only bad thing about eating here is all the etiquette rules. _She picked up one of the hard bread pieces to dip with her chop sticks and brought it to her lips daintily. She noted with pleasure the added amount of spice to it—Mai adored spicy foods.

"So… Fire Lord Zuko… How's everything with ruling the Fire Nation?" Ty Lee asked as she neared the end of her soup, wanting to relieve the silence that had settled around the head of the table as Tinh and her father spoke of business matters.

"Fine," he answered blandly. Though his voice wasn't tired, something about him screamed that at the end of the day, his work was the last thing he wished to speak of.

"Right. Good. Great!" Ty Lee said, her impending nervousness showing. Servants quickly removed the egg drop soup and replaced it with bowls of white rice and bottles of soy sauce. The servants worked their way down the lines of seats. It was, in reality, a rather small dinner party, though there were about half as many bottles of soy sauce as there were guests.

"Ty Lee," Mai addressed her friend as her cousin was being served. "We're going off to the Earth Kingdom in about five days. What are you planning on doing until then?" She didn't typically seek out conversation, though avoiding it in this case seemed unkind.

"Um, I don't know. I was thinking of going into the capital for some things, and probably some help with the whole ambassador thing." Ty Lee looked gratefully to her friend as she spoke. Mai might not be the most social person on the planet, but when she needed an ally, she could always count on Mai's loyalty.

"Tomorrow you'll both have a briefing as to your duties and obligations," Zuko said.

"All right," Ty Lee said. "Um… Mai, who's your cousin?"

"This is Tinh. He's from my mother's side," Mai answered. Tinh turned to Ty Lee from the conversation he was listening to.

"It's nice to see you again. I believe we met at your graduation from the Royal Fire Academy for Girls?" he said politely as Ty Lee nodded. "I've heard quite a bit about you. I'm afraid I have never been to a circus. Would you mind explaining it a bit to me?" Mai prayed silently of her thanks as she listened to her friend explain to her cousin how a circus was. After she earned a glare from her father for voicing her indignation that any child should be deprived of seeing the circus, of course. Mai noted that Zuko was taking silent interest in the conversation.

* * *

The meal progressed well enough, subjects floating around, many interesting ones provided by Mai's cousin regarding his studies and fables he'd gleaned. Then stories of adventures they had had prevailed as the subject matter. Zuko finally joined in, sharing one from his days as a refugee regarding his uncle and some poisonous tea. Mai actually laughed with her companions, Iroh included in the laughter on his tea based folly. 

The dinner finally ended and the groups split to a partially screened room—the men smoking and conversing on one side while the women talked on the other as a small band played at the head of the screen that divided the room. Shadows played across the decorative frame and cloth as though they were puppets trying to tell some story of their owners' actions. Mai sat with Ty Lee as she spoke lightly, much less nervous.

"I swear—being around my father is so… well, not fun. Before I ran off to the circus he was fine enough, but now all he seems to want to do is make me into some perfect Fire Nation noble girl and marry me off before I can embarrass him any more."

"Oh, yes, how _dare_ your esteemed father wish for a good daughter to bring prosperity to his family? And his only child too? It is hardly fathomable!" a girl sitting in a group near them drawled. "Why should he want a girl who walks about with her navel showing and a circus reputation to be any different?" She was beautiful—heart shaped face, glossy black hair pinned fashionably, bright gold eyes, and a well shaped figure. The group around her—a few older, a few younger—seemed attractive as well, though not nearly as much as their apparent leader. She looked to be about Mai's age. Ty Lee looked at the young woman with surprise.

"Eavesdropping is a common skill for a well bred noble lady to express in public?" Mai asked languidly, fingering the corner of her sleeve.

"You would know?" the girl asked in mirth. The younger ones giggled and the older ones around her smiled viciously.

"I don't seek to be thought of as such. My name does that for me, if you recall the Shan-Tsai family?" This wasn't about personal issues—the girl had insulted her parents.

"Yes, trampling through the Earth Kingdom throwing knives at the Avatar, savior of the world, would tend to draw attention away from being well thought of," this unnamed wasp answered.

_Quite a flair for politics—she insults me with a veil, and insults me again without people thinking you disapprove of my family. This girl is obviously prideful… I can play with that._ "My, you're lucky no one knew you thought as such during the war! You'd have been in danger of being branded a traitor."

"And you were put on trial for traitorous actions," she answered. Mai resolved to find this girl's name and family history.

"I don't believe I know you—you weren't schooled in the Academy, were you?" Ty Lee asked, willing to back Mai up.

"I had private tutors—not much can be said for the results that academy turned out, now can it?" the girl answered, looking from Ty Lee to Mai and back again.

"I recognize Caí of the Miyazaki family—I heard your brother married and is expecting a child. Congratulations. Fang-Hua of the Chan-Rai family—I was told the silver turnout was excellent this year. Líng of the Kwan family, I hope the southern drought hasn't hurt the tea plantation. Min-Yù of the Tung Feng family, congratulations on your engagement. It is so nice to see you again," Mai said, greeting each girl in turn that she'd known from the academy.

"I don't believe we have been introduced," the lead girl said with a flawless smile. "I am Lady Sakura of the Huáng family. It is pleasant to make your acquaintance, Mai Shan-Tsai. I believe we will soon come to be very familiar with one another."

"Oh, that may not be too likely," Ty Lee said with a smile.

"And why would that be so, Ty Lee of the Circus?" Sakura asked sweetly.

"The gracious Fire Lord Zuko has been so kind to trust us with important tasks that should keep us away for, oh, months, after this week has passed," Ty Lee said offhandedly, covering the insult the girl had dealt her.

"Then you two won't be here when he's choosing the next Fire Lady? Well, not that it makes any difference. Oh! It's almost time to leave. It has been _so_ pleasurable speaking with you both," Sakura said as the shadows in the screen shifted greatly. The band stopped playing as the girls' husbands and fathers came and gathered them. Ty Lee discretely jabbed a nerve cluster in Sakura's neck as they passed one another on the way to their parents. Sakura fell promptly to the expensive rug, the sound of her silk kimono's tearing overriding the moan that escaped her lips.

"You circus slut! What did you do to me?" she yelled from the ground, apparently immobilized.

"I will not stand here and be falsely accused!" Ty Lee said with affront, standing near her father.

"Ty Lee, quiet!" He turned to Sakura's father. "I will not stand here and hear my daughter so crudely insulted and accused!" Ty Lee's face shown for a moment with irritation, then confusion, and then joy ask her father spoke. "Chàng Fa Huáng, perhaps you should teach your daughter that such blatant insults are no boon to a husband when seeking a wife." The head of the Huáng family was silent, though his eyes burned with biting words in his daughter's defense.

"Sakura, get off the floor," he hissed.

"I…can't. I can't feel anything," she hissed back, turning her head to look at Ty Lee. Her attacker's face shown with earnest concern.

"Here—" Ty Lee carefully pinched something in the fallen girl's wrist and her prone body jolted. Quite a crowd had gathered around Miss Sakura by this time. She glared at Ty Lee as she adjusted her rumpled kimono and used her sleeve to mask the tear.

"Sakura… thank the girl for assisting you," her father said lowly and lethally. She gave her father a split second of a contemptuous glare, then bowed to Ty Lee, sweetly stating her thanks.

Mai smiled to her friend as Ty Lee hugged her father warmly by the screen, out of the way. She, Tinh, Ty Lee and her family, Zuko and Iroh were among the last left in the sitting room. As Mai and Tinh began to leave, a voice called her back. She turned and saw Zuko holding the journal that Tinh had given her. She silently cursed the fact that obis didn't hold things well enough and went back to receive it.

"Loyalty—it suits you," Zuko told her. She smiled to him silently and left with her cousin.

* * *

Mai bid Tinh good-night and closed the door to her room. She breathed deeply and took the diary from her obi. She strode over to the desk and inked a thin brush carefully. Inscribing the date, she wrote: 

_I, Mai of the Shan-Tsai family, claim this journal, a gift from my cousin Tinh, as my own. I no longer have reason to be cautious that records of my thoughts, emotions, and actions could be dangerous or damaging, now that Princess Azula is no longer an issue of my life. I am born to a noble family of the Fire Nation. I have fought in a war, I have seen a good woman murdered, and I have atoned for the past that lead me to where I was on the day of Black Sun. _

_And I, Mai, am in love._

Maihe blew the ink dry and closed the book. She brought it to her bed and placed it under her pillow. Mai dressed for bed and slept well, with a rare, pure smile on her face.

* * *

Zuko flopped facedown onto the plush silks of his bed solidly, glad that another stressful day was over. _At this rate, I'll have gray hair before I'm twenty.Agni, isn't that wonderful?_ In spite of his tired state, sleep was slow in coming. He thought of the day, and in spite of all the influential occurrences, one thought stuck out in his mind: 

_Mai really is beautiful when she smiles_

* * *

A/N: Sorry that this chapter was so long in coming. It really gave me trouble, but I'm satisfied with it, if that counts for something. 

E: Of course it counts for something! It doesn't matter if everyone loves the fic if you don't like it!

Me: Thank you, E., my wonderful muse. Kay, bye, and thank you for all the reviews. They make me so happy! Constructive criticism is welcome.

And, to those whom it may interest, I put a Maiko/Soko songfic into the drabble series.

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	6. The Days Before Parting

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar.

A/N: I'm using a relative's laptop now, which has a different word program, but hopefully, it's not too much trouble. Though, typing in the car is a lot different atmosphere than I usually have for writing. And of course I forgot my headphones and the car didn't have a CD player. At least I could listen to the Celtic tape. Okay, rant over. Maiko now.

* * *

Zuko woke sleepily, not by choice, but merely for the fact that he could feel the sun rising slowly on the horizon. He groaned internally. _I am seventeen… I'm too young to feel this old_...He rose tiredly and dressed with a frown. _Today is… Mai and Ty Lee's orientation… lunch with someone or another from a southern province… firebending… dinner with Uncle._ Zuko fixed the Fire Nation emblem in his topknot and walked to his door, steeling himself for another stressful day. 

As he turned another corner on his way to his customary early breakfast, he noticed someone firebending in the practice yards. _Mai's cousin, Tinh. Didn't know he was a firebender._ Zuko made a note to ask him about it later, making his way towards his study were he took breakfast with his uncle.

"Fire Lord Zuko," General Iroh greeted him as Zuko walked into the room. A soothing scent reached him as he sat and accepted the tea his uncle offered him. "Your duties are beginning to wear on you," the general commented.

"Is it like this for every Fire Lord?"

"No Fire Lord previous had to deal with a war spanning so long after such a turbulent life. But it should get better," he finished as a maid entered and placed the breakfast tray on Zuko's desk.

"Agni, I hope so," he said and began to eat.

* * *

"Well, they still won't let me dress like I like, but at least it's better than it was. Apparently, our family and Sakura's haven't liked each other for a few decades. Something about land in the Earth Kingdom," Ty Lee said conversationally over breakfast. They had been notified about their meeting with Zuko following, though considering their early start there was no immediate rush. "Zuko's aura's going a bit brownish. He's really stressed," she commented, pouring herself some tea. 

"Not much can be done for that--things need to be done, and if he doesn't do them, who will?" Mai answered, lifting a clump of fried rice to her mouth.

"He needs to have some fun. If he spends all his time being Fire Lord, what happens to Zuko?" Ty Lee pointed out, stretching in her seat.

* * *

"Fire Lord Zuko, Ladies Mai and Ty Lee are here for the orientation," his secretary said. Zuko looked up blandly from his piles of paper, then shuffled them away, making room for the notes he'd made on the subject. This reminded him unpleasantly of schooling. Iroh took a seat at Zuko's elbow, freeing the second one in front of his nephew. Mai and Ty Lee entered, bowed, and sat. 

_Ty Lee's right--the stress isn't doing anything good for Zuko,_ Mai thought as she entered. She was concerned for him--she didn't like seeing him tired with frown lines faintly engraving themselves on his forehead. The same secretary Mai recognized from her trial sat near the door, pen ready to document what they said.

"Welcome," he said formally, looking up at them. "I'll start with you, Ty Lee, if that's acceptable?" They nodded and he began, "What do you understand of your duties so far?" Ty Lee cocked her head.

"I thought it basically meant I'd be going to towns that Azula had visited and making sure they know we aren't all like her."

"That's a pretty good idea to start on," Zuko commented. "Also, if you wouldn't mind, I was hoping you could take on certain towns and cities I visited as well."

"Oh, that sounds great!" Ty Lee said brightly. "I don't mind taking more towns."

"So to be perfectly clear, you will travel to specific towns in the Earth Kingdom. As a Goodwill Ambassador, you won't merely be telling them we aren't like Azula. You will be teaching them that certain stereotypes of the Fire Nation are untrue. You need to teach them that we are not the faceless soldiers that took their sons and burned their neighbors. Tell them that the war is indeed over and we want nothing more than to repair relations between our lands."

"Wow, Zuko! That was a really nice speech. Can I get a copy of that?" she asked, turning to the secretary. He grinned and nodded, then looked back down to his paper.

"Right. I'll need reports about every two weeks. Mai--what do you understand of your duties?" Zuko asked, shifting to a piece of paper below the one with Ty Lee's information.

"I am to travel through the Earth Kingdom with a team, most likely including members of the Kyoshi warriors, and recover the metal coffin containing the remains of their late leader, Suki. Then I will return to the Fire Nation. This should take about two to three months, meaning I'd arrive back in the Fire Nation in the spring," Mai assessed emotionlessly. She glanced discretely at Ty Lee. Mai could have sworn that if her companion were a cat, her ears would have been drooping.

"Yes, basically," Zuko said. He sounded to Mai as though he were pleased with her level of thought on the subject. "I'm expecting word from Kyoshi Island soon on how many will come on the recovery. I'm sending six soldiers to accompany you and a Yuu Yan archer. The Kyoshi warriors will be joining you later on the trail to Lake Laogai. I'll be needing reports from you on the progress, I'd guess weekly. Do you have any questions?" he asked.

"Is the Yuu Yan archer particularly necessary, Fire Lord Zuko?" Mai inquired. "Even as a precaution, it seems a bit excessive. Would it not seem like we do not trust them?"

"The Yuu Yan archer is something of a formality," Zuko answered. "He is wishing to live in the Earth Kingdom with someone he met there and nearly has requested retirement. It's cheaper to give him a final mission on a ship I'm already paying for than to pay for governmental immigration taxes. He will be leaving the party once the Kyoshi warriors join." Mai nodded her understanding. It was pure practical politics.

"That is all," he concluded. "You will be leaving for the Earth Kingdom in… six days, is it?"

"Five," Iroh corrected him.

"Right. You will be leaving for the Earth Kingdom in five days. If you need any supplies for your missions, please notify either Xing or his brother Ando" Zuko instructed, nodding to the secretary a the door. "If there are no further questions, the meeting is adjourned." Zuko looked up at them almost expectantly. Since they said nothing, he began gathering papers and signaled their dismissal.

* * *

"Come on, Mai! We're going shopping!" Ty Lee said to Mai in her room after lunch. 

"Just put it on a list for the clerk and secretary," Mai said as she wrote a careful letter.

"I don't think we need to make the Fire Nation treasury pay for my juggling balls and other things I'll use in my goodwill-ambassador-ing."

Mai raised an eyebrow at her companion. "Well, that's definitely not in the Fire Nation stereotype. But since you're using it for the job Zuko gave you, it's only appropriate that the treasury pas for it."

"It's just with how he was talking about the Yuu Yan archer on your trip--" Ty Lee said with concern.

"Ty Lee, the Fire Nation isn't in danger of becoming bankrupt. He's just doing his job by taking expenses into the most effective account."

"Oh. Well, I'll ask for reimbursement then, because I'll shop better for what I need than whoever shops for us will," she said with a shrug.

Mai gave a brief chuckle. "You actually sounded like and ambassador then, Ty Lee."

Ty Lee grinned. "So you are coming with me? Good. Who's the letter to, by the way?" Mai's brief lightheartedness left her face and she became serious as she looked to the paper.

"Azula. Her…execution may happen while we're in the Earth kingdom. I wanted to leave my last words to her. I owe her that much." Ty Lee nodded.

"I've got to write one of those too…."

"Well, daylight's wasting. We're going shopping, aren't we?" Ty Lee grinned and grabbed Mai's hand, fairly dragging her off to the market.

* * *

Zuko wanted nothing more after his lunch with the nobleman from the south than to burn something. He longed for the days when insults were clear and people wouldn't offend and flatter him in the same breath. He made his way quickly to his room and changed for firebending practice. All the time he thought of his vexing meeting--the nobleman was seeking aide from the government for his rice crop during the drought. He's split his time blaming anyone but himself, including Zuko himself, and trying to convince of the importance of the rice crop. In all honesty, the man's lands couldn't offer enough rice to make the amount he asked for worthwhile. Zuko resolved to give the man a cut potion of what the man had asked for and try to forget it for the duration of his firebending practice. 

He found the practice yard empty except for a few benders who appeared to be off-duty guards running through drills. They bowed briefly to him as he entered, then resumed their practice. He chose an empty yard facing a stone wall and began the motions for lightning. He'd learned how to summon it, yet it still took repetition and much practice to master it as his sister had. He cleared his mind and calmly, slowly began the motions. The first times, it was slow and barely produced sparks, though it grew stronger with every attempt as his motions grew stronger, his breath deeper, his spirit more focused. He did his final burst, powerful and bright, and was surprised to hear clapping. He turned confusedly to the sound and observed certain noblemen's daughters gathered on the sidelines, fanning themselves and clapping.

He turned from the spectacle and called the guards over to practice team maneuvers. That is, their teamwork and his work against a team. The girls cheered him on from the sidelines and seemed to distract the youngest of the guards. Zuko focused his assault on him and the guards team picked up the slack he left. Zuko grinned at their teamwork and changed his strategy. Instead of the typical moves they would expect, he opted for more unique ones he'd developed over the years. The guards' circle around him widened, though he was still on defense. He sent a strike of fire at one guard's feet, causing him to stumble and fall backward. He put his arm forward for the coup de grace that would scar the man like Zuko himself.

The practice move for "defeated" complete, the Fire Lord turned his attention to the others, trying his best to ignore the noblewomen's cheering. He sent a powerful strike to the abdomen of the youngest and he too fell to the end move. Zuko was new left with two opponents, circling him like tigers. Well trained and intelligent tigers who could make fire at a thought. He decided in a split second to bring out a surprise his uncle had taught him--and breathed fire at one guard. He blocked himself and fell, Zuko delivering the same end game to him as the rest. Though, to do this he was aware he'd left his flank open--and the noblewomen were doing their best not to let him forget. He raised a wall of fire to deplete the air any coming strike would demand and glanced to the girls in spite of himself. There they were, clapping and cheering and not at all the reason he was there. He made briefest eye contact with one--bright gold eyes, glossy black hair, heart shaped face, full figure, and that instant was over. _Stupid stinking teenaged hormones--_

He blocked another blow from the guards and with a clever boxing technique, Zuko defeated him soundly. The girls rose and cheered, applauding. Zuko tried to ignore them while he shook his men's hands, congratulating them on their efforts and teamwork, offering small bits of advice. He made his way off the training ground and found himself followed. He glanced backward and saw the girl from the night before--_Sakana or Sukura or something. Sakura! That's her name. _Why was she following him, a small caravan of young women behind her in turn?

Well, in his current state of sweat soaked clothing and perspiration still trickling from his forehead, he was in no state to be servicing them. Zuko turned around. This Sakura girl said nothing, her companions merely staring. He turned back around again, resisting the urge to shake his head in confusion, and began to walk back to his rooms.

"Fire Lord Zuko!" a feminine voice called from behind him. Zuko bit back the annoyed 'what' resting so readily on his lips and turned again. The girl now had a fan bearing the cherry blossom patterns of her namesake held flirtatiously before her lips. "We would just like to say what a _fascinating_ show it was. Riveting."

"Thank you," Zuko answered blandly, turning. _It wasn't a show. Aren't these practice grounds for benders only?_ He walked back to his rooms, changed, and bathed unhindered.

* * *

"Well, that went spectacularly," Sakura commented sarcastically to her companions as they sat in one of the Fire Palace's many parlors to drink their fragrant teas. 

"At least you spoke to him," one younger girl said, a bit too happily for Sakura's tastes.

"Yes, and he couldn't wait to get away from me," she answered, shooting the girl a contemptuous glare as though it were her fault.

"Maybe you shouldn't have made an enemy of the Sung girl and her friend from the Shan-Tsai family," a tall girl, the one whom Mai had recognized as being engaged, said. Sakura seemed a bit shocked for a moment that this girl had had the audacity to question her actions. "He obviously values them, even trusts them most likely."

"Yes, and maybe I wish I lived in the desolate wasteland of the Water Tribe eating fat to stay alive where things should rightly die," Sakura answered, daintily swallowing a cherry half.

"Water Tribe boys are cute," another girl answered with a grin, the girls around her nodding their agreements. "And I've heard they're good kissers." Her companions laughed and nodded their opinions in lighthearted fun.

"Girls," Sakura said, taking the tone of a teacher explaining a lesson to students. "We don't socialize with lesser cultures. The war may be over, but certainly the Fire Nation is till the most superior society. Remember that, ladies." The girls remained silent, thinking of it.

"Doesn't mean we can't still like them," the girl who'd defended the Water Tribe muttered secretly under her breath.

* * *

"Ty Lee, I don't think you'll need a cat to be a Goodwill Ambassador," Mai said as her friend presented the animal to her. 

"But she's so cute! And her aura is really pink, for a cat. She'll e perfect to take to the Earth Kingdom." Ty Lee cuddle the animal, who seemed to be the ideal match of her personality. It was dark coffee in most of its fur with cream colored socks and stomach, mouth, and ear tips, with one gold eye and one green. "Isn't she wonderful?" The cat fixed Mai with a pleading look identical to Ty Lee's. Mai sighed deeply.

"I won't stop you." Ty Lee squealed in delight, cuddling the cat closely as it mewed happily. "But I don't want it--" The cat jumped from Ty Lee's arms and draped itself over Mai's shoulders. "--touching… me…." She sneezed. "Or breathing my air." Ty Lee extricated her new pet from her friend's shoulders and paid for it. The cat dropped into one of her bags and rode there leisurely.

"We should get back to the palace soon," Ty Lee mentioned as they walked. They made their way back through the market.

The next day, Ty Lee convinced Mai to come to a bath house with her. Neither had any regrets, yet Ty Lee's cat was well hidden during the conversation. It soon became known that the feline was quite intelligent in the field of opening things, hiding, begging for table scraps, and not at all fond of being cleaned. These things were found out almost simultaneously when it decided to explore her mother's cosmetics box and took Ty Lee and two servants to remove all traces of unnatural color from her fur. She loved the smell of tea and taste of anything spicy. She seemed to have an exceptionally strong stomach, for a cat. She took an attitude that reminded Mai of Azula around Lady Sakura. Miss Sakura seemed to register that and mimicked the attitude. For their passive aggressive attitudes, the cat got quite a bit of shrimp from Miss Sakura. Mai resolved that the cat was not so bad, just as long as it didn't come near enough for her to smell it.

* * *

A/N: Wow, this wasn't what I expected. Stupid travel atmospheres. I have no idea what to name the cat, PLEASE HELP! Someone, please be kind enough to think of a name for Ty Lee's cat for me. 

Yep--Sakura's prejudiced. Can't wait to deliver some semi-omnipotent author type justice to her. But the plot comes first, of course. Anyway, so ends chapter six. Sorry for relative delays in updating and lower quality of the chapter. Drat, I'm posting a filler chapter. Next one will take place on the ship. The one traveling to the earth kingdom, that is. Please give reviews--I love them and they make me smile.

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	7. Ships & Movig Forward

Disclaimer: Aren't all the other chapters enough? Still don't own Avatar.

A/N: Sorry about the relative lack of updates. Things refuse to stop coming up.

* * *

Mai woke abruptly at a sudden movement beneath her, her eyes shooting open with practiced caution. She took in the metal surroundings around her and closed her pale gold eyes with an internal groan. _Not danger, just a ship._ She lay there for another moment then rose sleepily. She shook her head to clear the sleep away, sending her thick black hair cascading from the loosened buns that had held it in her sleep. Mai rose, rocking in her steps with the ebb and flow of the movement beneath her feet. For all her dislike of being on the ocean, she rarely suffered seasickness and gained her sea legs in an hour. Strange, yet convenient. She changed from her simple black night shift into her regular outfit and brushed her hair vigorously, tying it into its typical buns.

Once done with her morning preparation rituals, Mai turned around to survey her room, her eyes falling on the diary her cousin had given her. She paused for a moment, thinking of what she'd written two nights before.

* * *

_The man I love asked me for something. Any order I would perform to the fullest extent of his wishes, though he made it very clear that this was not an order. I am setting off tomorrow for the Earth Kingdom on a mission. He took me aside after the farewell dinner into his private study. I knew it was completely a professional arrangement, yet I found myself distracted from his words by the very man speaking them. He asked me if I could perform something or him, a favor. He said that it would not be part of my mission, yet something else. Of course my heart leapt, and I was willing to perform any task he would wish of me. Yet when I said I would gladly take it, he attempted to stop me, telling me this would be unofficial, unpaid for, and something he would not ask someone he did not trust. I knew whatever was on his mind must be important, and I was ready to do this thing for him—not merely because of his rank, or what I owe him, or even because I love him. I do this because I would take any weight of the burden he bears._

_Again I said I would gladly accept his task. He told me of when he was on the run from Azula, a refugee. He spoke of how he acted against his honor, against innocent people in some cases. He asked me if, knowing this, I would deliver his return to those who he'd wronged or deceived._

_I accepted._

_He gave me a list of names, towns, areas, descriptions. Song, Lee, Jet, and Jin. Also towns with no specific names. He asked that I would visit these towns as I traveled back to the Fire Nation, if I still wanted to do this task. I answered that I would be honored to serve him in such a way. He said that I would receive my formal instructions later and gave me a parcel for each town and name. He thanked me, saying that I didn't know what a great service I was doing him. I bowed and left._

* * *

Mai walked onto the ship's deck for a bit of air before breakfast. She inhaled the salt laced air slowly, looking out onto the waves. Off on another part of the deck she could hear Ty Lee doing her morning exercises Mai cast another look around and began to head back below decks for breakfast. Ty Lee happened to glance in Mai's direction as she was going in and bounded up beside her.

"Hey Mai. How's travel agreeing with you?" she asked brightly, falling into step behind her on the steps.

"Well enough. Did the cook ban your cat after the ramen incident?" Mai asked, referring to a rather unfortunate happening of the previous night.

"No, she's just a bit sick. Water travel isn't so good with her. I've been thinking of some names—"

"Please nothing like Princess Cherry Blossom or Fou-fou Cuddly Kins or Fluffy," Mai interjected, turning down one of the labyrinthine halls.

"No, she wouldn't like those, no matter how pink her aura is. Though it's got a definite blue tint that makes it pretty purple at times. And she's too sleek to call Fluffy. I wanted to name her for how she acts, but Akira doesn't suit. Aidyn seemed nice, though I don't think she'd suit a Water Tribe name well. It's good though, little fire. Sorcha seemed good too, so did Amakai. I also like Huong, Mio, and Hoshi," Ty Lee listed thoughtfully, following Mai to breakfast with a hand on her chin.

"Amakai Huong sounds best to me."

"A bit long though. I know! I'll name her that and call her Hua for short! That certainly clears things up—it'll be nice to have something other than 'cat' to call her." They entered the galley and found seats. A cabin boy promptly brought them two bowls of soup and wontons. Mai nodded mutely and began to eat, Ty Lee across form her temporarily mimicking the silence.

"So…. What did Zuko want?" Ty Lee asked, breaking a wonton open and eating half. Some of Mai's soup became stuck in her throat as she tried to answer.

A light bout of coughing later she answered, "Just something to do with my task."

"Oh, all right then. It'll be nice to see your family again. Or, at least without Azula," Ty Lee commented. A silence followed as the two pondered what she'd just said. Finally breaking the silence, Ty Lee stated "Zuko hasn't set a date yet. For her, I mean."

"It must be hard," Mai commented, looking at her soup. "Even after all they've gone through, it still must be so hard to make an order like that, to family. Especially with so few people left he can really rely on and others he trusts traveling and leaving." The two sat wordlessly for a moment.

Unable to bear the heavy silence for long, Ty Lee began to speak again. "I've heard that there's going to be a festival in the Water Tribes soon, to remember their princess who became the Moon Spirit. In late winter sometime. We should be done with our duties by then, right?" Mai's thoughts left off for the passage in her diary, wondering how long her new job would take.

"I don't know," Mai answered, finishing her soup. "What are you planning to do in the towns you go to? More than speeches, I would think." Ty Lee brightened.

"I'll do something of what I did at the circus. I'm teaching Hua to dance, though she's no good on the ship. She seemed to have some talent in the Fire Nation, though. Then I'll make some speech thing for the adults and take questions or something. I'll see what doesn't work in the first couple of towns and figure it out from there." The cabin boy delivered a spring roll for each of them and left. Mai and Ty Lee finished and stood.

"What were you planning on doing?" Ty Lee asked her friend, stretching.

"Deck for practice. It's been a while since I was able to," Mai answered, beginning to walk to the door.

"Sounds fun," Ty Lee said, joining her.

* * *

Zuko groaned as the nobles began arguing about tariff prices. _For the fourth time. This meeting._ The northern nobles spoke of how their industries called for low tariffs to trade and compete with the Earth Kingdom. The southern nobles talked about how they needed high tariffs to protect their small business owners, the peasants. The difference in tariffs meant that smugglers, tariff dodgers, and merchants looking for lower prices in the north abounded. They argued about high tariffs, low tariffs, in between tariffs, compromise, the futility of compromise, and reasons why each region was more important and should win Zuko's favor.

_Why can't you fools just be quiet and think logically?_ Zuko thought tiredly. He changed the brightness of his fire wall to signify he would speak. "It seems that with the current state of things, agreement is nearly impossible," he said. "Though it does seem better to me that the common citizens in the South should have fair opportunity." The southern nobles began to look smugly at their counterparts. "Though depriving the North of chance to compete is not an option." The northern nobles looked more satisfied, the southern less so. "It seems best that both sides gradually move to a closer tariff. Perhaps focus on products unavailable in other lands."

"Are you to say that our southern iron smiths should forget their work and take up ploughs simply because the North has more abundant supply?" one nobleman asked with airs that made Zuko want to cut half his overlong beard off.

"I am saying that my people are equal," Zuko answered with moderately suppressed rage.

"Perhaps it is best to move to another subject for now," General Iroh spoke from his position at the head of the delegation table. He often sat there in meetings to highlight his position among as opposed to over them at Zuko's side.

"Clerk, the next order of business?" Zuko asked, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"The issue of the next Fire Lady is now open for discussion," the clerk announced as his brother wrote.

"What?" Zuko asked. His uncle usually told him what to expect in his meetings, though this subject was conspicuously absent.

"The fact that you must take a wife," one general spoke up.

"To secure the line of the Fire Lord," another added. Zuko recognized him as Nobleman Huáng.

"Should we not begin by naming possible candidates?" one more said. They began to speak of daughters, nieces, and somewhat distant cousins as Zuko quietly fumed, gathering his words carefully.

"Might I ask why this is necessary?" he finally called over the din, which settled quickly.

"Fire Lord Zuko," one said, somewhat patronizing. "We know this seems a bit sudden, and that you may be comparatively young, but the facts are plain. There are three left alive of the Fire Lord's line. One of them is imprisoned, to be executed, one is becoming rather old to be a father—no offense meant, Revered Dragon of the West." Iroh shook his head to say none was taken. "And, then there you remain: Fire Lord. Should something happen to you in the unrest of a post-war society, the line must be secured. Otherwise, a terrible civil war could erupt over who the next or best candidate for Fire Lord is."

"Yes, and you have made my very point for me, General Rai. There is much unrest in the Fire Nation. To choose a wife too soon and from a certain region could possibly incite violence. It is simply too soon to consider a marriage with enough doubt of position among the—" Zuko stopped himself from saying 'nobility.' "Populace. They have already been asked to adjust to one new monarch abruptly. I would hesitate to make them accept another so soon." The crowd of nobles and generals spoke amongst themselves for a moment before Zuko spoke to the clerk. "How many more issues for this meeting?" he asked, thinking of the five already dealt with.

"Four, sir," the clerk answered. Zuko controlled the all but overwhelming urge to hit his forehead against something.

* * *

Mai spun swiftly, shooting stilettos accurately at the heavily armored guard she was against. He incinerated them as they flew. Looking past his flames, he couldn't find his opponent. He dodged several red and silver steel knives as they shot past him toward the deck rails. Turning to where they'd come from, he tripped, his armor catching on something in midair. He felt a concentrated weight pressing against the light armor on his throat and looked to the aristocrat holding a knife to his throat.

"Your surroundings may change in a battle. Attacks are not always straightforward. Remember that," she advised, stepping away. The guard looked, observing the wires he had faltered on. His eyes followed them to the railing, where they were wound around the metal poles, daggers dangling lazily. He stood heavily and bowed to her as she went to retrieve her weapons. Looking over he saw the other young woman in the middle of a rapidly thinning crowd, dropping man after man in spite of the heavy armor and obvious size advantage. He notices the wet color in her scraped, rapid knuckles and noted that the protection wasn't entirely worthless. Though, it didn't seem right for such a pretty girl t come to pain because of it...

* * *

"How was I today?" Zuko asked his uncle when they retired to his study after the meeting. He collapsed onto the couch facedown and waited for the tiredness to ebb.

"You did well, Fire Lord Zuko," Iroh answered calmly.

"Ugh. No. No politics, no titles, nothing to do with all that," Zuko said, still facedown. "Why don't we go be refugees again? That was rather pleasant." He turned face up and stared with great concentration at the backs of his eyelids.

"You won't be able to escape it forever, Zuko," his uncle's deep voice reminded him.

"I was raised think the Fire Lord's greatest job was to win the war and be a great firebender, not argue about tariffs, embargoes, and the possibility of some completely useless addition to the palace when I have entirely better things to spend it on."

"Find simple things to take pleasure in, Zuko. A hobby, perhaps," Iroh advised.

"My hobby is firebending," Zuko muttered.

"No, it's part of your job, just like arguing about drought relief, soil erosion, and marriage."

"Don't say it," Zuko said, covering his face with a pillow.

"Marriage? It isn't so bad as you think, Zuko."

"I'm seventeen."

"Your father was—"

"I don't care how young Father was when he married," Zuko interrupted, sitting up. "And at the time, he didn't have a country to run. He never had an issue with the words 'wife' and 'rule.' Yes, it was an arranged marriage, but there was not nearly as much riding on his marriage to Mother as mine with whomever I will marry." He rose heavily and walked to his desk.

"It isn't entirely about politics, Zuko. One person to be with you through all your trials will be your spouse," Iroh said wisely.

"I'm just worried about the trial of a wife."

* * *

Mai sneezed. The action didn't surprise her since she'd been aware of her new shadow for a while. She stopped and turned, looking the feline up and down. It meowed once.

"You are aware that I am not particularly fond of you, yes?"

It meowed once in response.

"And that you make me sneeze?"

She received the same reply.

"Will you please stop following me?"

Hua meowed twice. Mai decided to stop talking to the cat and kept walking. The early imperceptible sound of pads on the grate behind her kept Mai's thoughts occupied as she wound through the passages in the ship. She was making her way to the courier office on the ship, desiring to see if any messages had come by messenger falcon-gulls.

"L-Lady Mai, it's g-good t-to see y-you," the courier said. Mai had met him briefly only once before and gathered that he was either mad or a genius, stuttered, was very perceptive, had some fear of something vague yet nearly always present, and terribly allergic to cats. He sneezed heavily. He was a tall man, lean in a way that could look withered one moment, wiry the next. His salt and pepper hair and honey brown eyes gave him the look of a distracted father, though his lack of either wife or child was apparent.

"Hello, Jiro. Hua, please move," Mai said, gently toeing the cat out the door and closing it. Jiro sneezed again and began reordering his many maps and scraps of paper with information. Soon he had unearthed—or rather, de-papered—a chair for Mai, which she declined with a raised hand.

"I just need to know if there have been any new messages," she said.

He took a breath. "No, but there is one a-addressed to you," he said with effort. He went to a small cove in a honeycomb storage shelf that took up most of one wall. Mai silently marveled that he could make sense of the bedlam that was his library of small information. She soon doubted if he could, right as he brought out one letter. "H-Here it is," he said, handing it to her. "Left here ab-bout a week ago."

Mai looked at the letter. He name was expertly written, she assessed. A careful hand, well schooled and steady. The person was sure, perhaps even proud. She broke the seal—simple, plain wax, no higher quality than any commoner family would use. Her eyes trailed over the single line and signiture, shooting open in shock for a spilt second, then narrowing to hide emotions and suspicion.

"Mai—Hua came to get me. What's going on in there?" Ty Lee's voice came from cracked door. Mai hastily thanked Jiro and left the courier's office, stepping into the hall.

"Mai, what's going on? Hua's really upset," Ty Lee asked anxiously. Mai handed Ty Lee the letter.

"_I'm not dead yet._

"

* * *

A/N: I've got to have a bigger antagonist than just some spoiled, doomed-to-fail Mary-Sue, don't I?

Tinh: What about me?

Me: Don't worry! You have a big part in the next chapter.

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	8. The Plot Thickens

Disclaimer: I don't even own stocks to Nickelodeon, Viacom, or Avatar. Nada—much less characters.

A/N: I've got something coming up that'll keep me internet and probably computer free for a week. So, I'll try to update as much as possible till then. But no promises—things keep coming up.

And to the readers: I've never been to a guy's sport practice, so I don't know if they actually converse while they're doing all that. Forgive me if I'm terribly inaccurate in the conversation patterns of males during things like sports practice (or its kin bending).

* * *

Zuko smiled broadly as he walked to a private breakfast with his uncle.

"Hello, Uncle. Wonderful morning isn't? Is that a new tea?" he asked brightly, sitting lightly at his desk and unceremoniously shoving accumulated papers away.

"No, just ginseng. It seems to be working for you without a taste, though," the old general commented to his nephew, passing him a cup. "Any reason you are so…chipper, this morning, Zuko?"

"Does a Fire Lord need a reason to be happy on such a fine morning on a wonderful day in this beautiful nation?" Zuko asked cheerfully, propping his feet on the cleared space. At his uncle's raised eyebrow he laughed. "All right, I do have an excuse. A wonderful excuse! An excuse to ward off the nobles for months, Agni willing."

"And this excuse would be? And to what issue?" Iroh asked as a servant girl entered with the tray of breakfast.

"Well, actually it's rather morbid for my mood. My excuse is that my father has recently passed and I will observe the proper amount of time allotted for mourning before I will even consider marriage. Thank you, miss, it smells wonderful," he said. The servant girl blushed, bowed, and left hastily.

"You know that in light of that very circumstance they will argue the fact that you must marry soon, Iroh reminded him. "When did you think of this, anyway?"

"It came to me in a rather pleasant dream last night. Rather pleasant, except for the whole dead father and Azula's head on an ostrich horse that kept following me and laughing in a disturbing accent." Zuko blinked a bit as he remember that detail. "I blame that on the peppers I ape before bed. Rice?" he offered.

"Thank you. Well, be careful, Fire Lord Zuko. They may not be so understanding to your 'grief,'" Iroh advised him with a long drink of tea.

"I don't need them to be. I just need them to let me live my life without taking orders from them," Zuko answered after a thoughtful drink from his own cup.

* * *

"Mai, what does it mean? I know it means Azula's still alive, but a lot more too. What's going on?" Ty Lee asked, holding her cat to her chest.

"It means," Mai answered solemnly from her desk, "that she has followers. Followers who have access to equipment for her, specific equipment, and also access to us. Her followers are getting her information on us. She knew that we would be on this ship. The courier said it had been here before we were. It means we need to get a message to Zuko." Mai stayed there in her seat for a moment in the light of the candles and concentration mirrors she'd brought out to closer study the note. She'd been examining the letter for other clues to Azula's supplies. She was still sure as ever, though not arrogant. She was cold, strategizing—Mai gathered that from her handwriting. The ink was business quality—not terribly expensive, yet clear and precise. She most likely had followers in the city. The paper was simple, cheap. Higher quality than that of servants, roughly equal to that used by common families.

"Why are we waiting? This is important—we have to tell Zuko," Ty Lee said, Hua licking her ear.

"I don't want to trust the courier," Mai said. "I don't know him. He is the one who would be in charge of the message. If he is Azula's, I can't risk that the message would be intercepted or changed. He could very well be the one who ferried this note to us from her or her other followers."

"Code?" Ty asked, setting the cat down.

Mai grimaced, looking to her friend. "We haven't worked one out with Zuko. I could call her something like Blue Fire or Lightning, but most anyone would be able to tell. We can't expect that Zuko would be able to decipher something safely cryptic. There are too many variables—trust the courier, he or a later mail carrier could destroy it. Wait too long and the worst can happen," Mai said darkly, calculating her options.

"Your cousin!" Ty Lee said. Mai looked at her. "Send the note to Tinh and ask him to give it to Zuko." Mai pondered this.

_It is much less likely for my own family to betray me…_

"Ty Lee, that's brilliant. I'll have to wait a day so the courier wouldn't be so quick to discern. I'll mix in stacks of reports and a single note for it somewhere in." Mai walked over to her bed and retrieved something.

"How will Tinh know which one is the important note?" Ty Lee asked as Mai took out a knife and held it purposefully over the object.

"He'll know," Mai answered, cutting a page from her diary.

* * *

"Fire Lord Zuko, it is so good to see you again," Tinh said formally with a bow to his monarch as Zuko walked onto the training field.

"Yes, wonderful," Zuko answered distractedly, looking behind him. "Guard—see that no one, um, unqualified is allowed into the training grounds today," he said to a waiting sentry.

"'Unqualified,' sir?" the guard asked uncertainly, walking to the entrance.

"If said unqualified patrons approach, I'm sure you will be acutely aware, guard," Zuko told him, turning away.

"Noblemen's daughters stalking you?" Tinh asked lightly, performing a warm up set.

"Indeed," Zuko answered, stretching. "I wasn't aware you were a firebender."

"It comes from my late father's side," Tinh answered. "Though I've almost always been too busy with accounts and managing to pursue a career as a soldier or a bender," he said conversationally, stepping up to a more advanced set.

"It wasn't a waste," Zuko told him, beginning drills. "To not be in the war, that is." He silently lectured himself on bending from the muscles and began to control his breathing more carefully.

"Well, as I'm sure you've begun to notice, no sane man will die wishing he'd spent more time at his desk," Tinh told him, going through a faster set.

"No question there," Zuko answered ironically. "Who taught you to bend?"

"My father did the introduction, then tutors and eventually scrolls." Tinh, Zuko noticed, was very calm. He moved with power though his concentration was in follow through and breathing. They finished their sets almost simultaneously.

"Spar?" Zuko asked, considering that there was no one else. Tinh shrugged his reply and assumed a defensive stance.

* * *

"Do you always carry so many papers?" Ty Lee asked Mai as she assembled her packet of distractions to go with the note to Tinh. "Wait—I remember this assignment from the Academy. That teacher hated me so much…" Ty Lee thought aloud, head hanging upside down from the bunk above Mai's. Akamai Huong was lightly snoring, asleep next to her.

"I was actually taking all Tinh's reports to Mother and Father. The outdated Academy papers just happened to be in the bottom of my trunk. The plan is for Tinh to accept the papers, decipher their obvious unimportance to him when categorizing each packet. Then he'll reach the only one with some relevance, the one on the desk. In that between the second and third pages will be the page I cut from the diary he gave me. He'll read to part addressed to him, and then give it to Zuko."

"What's in the packet on the desk?" she asked.

"Simple reports saying the same thing over and over again in different words. I'm actually plagiarizing a few of his reports here and there, but just to fill up enough pages. Just talking about worthless things, and from what I know of him it's the best thing to do. He'll look through the package, sort out what's his, old, and new. Tinh will then scan through the packet of new information, get through the first two pages, and find my diary page. That with the fact that the first two words are 'to Tinh' will attract his attention. He will read the section addressed to him and give the message and Azula's note, hidden in my old school papers, to Zuko."

"Wow. You've thought of this a lot," Ty Lee commented, rolling over onto her stomach and letting the blood drain from her face.

"It's just what's most logical. I only hope that no one else has thought of it." Mai finished putting the stacks of paper into order and set them on her desk. "All that's left now is to just wait so no one can attach this to the message I got today."

* * *

_For a man who says he spends much time at his desk with papers, Mai's cousin is exceptionally fast,_ Zuko thought as he blocked a series of attacks. Tinh parried Zuko's counters with ease, though he was slowing. Zuko grimaced as he again stepped onto a hot patch in the sparring floor. _There's an idea…_

"Slowing down, Fire Lord?" Tinh asked, sending Zuko three expert arcs of flame. Zuko dodged, shooting wildly at Tinh with one arm as he formed a fire whip with the other. Tinh dodged and quickstepped away from his wild shots, evading the fire whip's cracks and sending his own bursts to Zuko.

_That's it—keep backing up…_ Zuko stepped far to one side to dodge one of Tinh's bursts, using his whip to send his opponent back where he'd just been. Zuko caught a glance of pain on Tinh's face as he stepped on a hot patch. Zuko backed him into other scorched areas, abandoning the fire whip for pitching fire balls, some to Tinh, some to the ground to keep him from gaining solid footing. All the while, Zuko was moving in closer.

He got a solid, flame free hit right into Tinh's chest, sending his already balance deprived form to the floor. Zuko glimpsed a flash of emotion on his opponent's face—anger definitely, perhaps even bitterness, though it was gone too quickly for him to tell much more. With his arm in the customary endgame position, Zuko stood there a moment above the man.

Tinh then laughed, actually stretching out on the scorched floor. "I'm done, I give!" Zuko removed his arm and grinned. "Oh Agni, I can't remember when I've fought like that! Predictable, though, Fire Lord and all." Tinh vaulted himself to his feet and shook Zuko's hand

"You were good—very good," Zuko told him. "From what you told me I had no idea you were such a good bender."

"Not much, just a bunch of drills," Tinh said as they began to make for the door where the guard was still standing sentry… with a gaggle of noblewomen behind him….

_This complicates things in a slightly annoying manner._

"Fire Lord Zuko!" Lady Sakura greeted him with a bow, her companions following suit. "Is there any particular reason we were banned from the practice grounds?"

"Guard—" Zuko said turning to him. "Were any of these young women here for bending practice?"

"No sir; I made sure to ask."

"Good. Have you any weapons for proof of sparring practice otherwise?" Zuko asked directly to the women. They shook their heads. "Then there doesn't seem to be much for your admittance then, correct?" The girls blushed and looked to Lady Huáng.

"Fire Lord Zuko, these grounds have never been known for closed practice," she stated against her blush, avoiding his eyes in a way he assumed was supposed to be becoming.

"No pressing need for undue distractions to training, is there ladies?" Tinh stepped up, inciting more furious flushes from the girls at his state of dress for sparring.

"Certainly," Lady Sakura replied. "Actually, we must be going. We have somewhere to be, correct, ladies?" They murmured their confirmations. Lady Sakura bowed and left, her followers doing the same.

* * *

"Mai, it's so wonderful to see you again," her mother said, wrapping her daughter in a warm hug

"It's good to see you again too, Mother," she answered. "You remember Ty Lee. And this is her new cat, Akamai Huong."

"Hua for short," Ty Lee said, freeing a hand to shake hands with her friend's mother.

"How's Omashu?" Mai asked as they made their way to the center of the city.

"Very temperate," her mother answered as they climbed the stairs. "I believe the citizens are adjusting quite well to life after the war. King Bumi has been very friendly. How are things in the Fire Nation?"

"Adjusting…" Mai answered.

"Oh, what am I thinking—you must be tired from travel. We'll talk later," Mai's mother said as they journeyed to the heart of the city.

* * *

Tinh glanced at the mail on his sitting room table. He took a short drink and set his small glass aside as he thumbed through it casually. _A sizeable package… Crop reports… wait—I wrote that._ He flipped through the next few. _Why did Mai send me her marks from her third year at the academy? Wait—that has her handwriting…_ He scanned through it lightly, noting that it repeated, skipped, and changed subjects fairly often, suggesting that she'd been in a hurry. He flipped past the second page and his eyes immediately seized the paper he'd so carefully chosen for the diary he'd given to Mai.

_To Tinh: Some happenings have caused me to become fairly certain that security in communication has been compromised. I trust you and very much need for you to do this thing for me: give this note to Fire Lord Zuko._

Tinh's blood heated for a second. _She wants me to envoy secret messages from her to Zuko? With the nobles calling for a Fire Lady, what does this mean?_ He continued reading.

_He needs the information on the other side of this note and a scrap of paper hidden in my school marks from third year at the Academy. He needs to know. I need you to do this Tinh—for the sake of the Fire Nation._

_Mai._

He read through what she'd written to Zuko and his blood froze momentarily. Tinh looking savagely through the Royal Fire Academy for Girls stationary, searching for the note Mai had spoken of. He read it, a cold sweat breaking as he thought of the implications of it.

Tinh grabbed Mai's note and Azula's, tore out of his room, and made for Zuko's study.

* * *

"Mother?" Mai asked as she and her mother were alone. Ty Lee was becoming acquainted with her secretary and guide and Mai's father was speaking with King Bumi.

"Yes, dear?" her mother answered contentedly, stirring her tea with sugar cane.

"How am I related to my cousin Tinh? The one who was at the capital." Mai asked.

"Ah, yes. He is the son from my stepmother's first marriage. His father was a notable nobleman who supplied the army with much iron in the war. He died in an accident, leaving a widow and son. My mother had passed on some years before that of flu, leaving my father a widower. He actually married Tinh's mother about a year before you went off to the academy."

"That explains the lack of childhood memories of him," Mai commented.

"Yes. He was actually quite taken with you when you were younger." Mai raised her head at this. "It was almost amusing the way he had trouble speaking enough to congratulate you when you graduated from the Academy and we had family over. Though I'm sure he's gotten over the childhood crush. How is he?"

"Fine," Mai answered, thinking of her diary. "He seems very well.

* * *

"My Lady, the Shan Tsai girl's cousin just visitted Zuko's study far too late for business. Maids say he was running."

Azula's tiger like smile curled wickedly on her flawless pink lips.

"_Perfect,"_ she replied from her dank cell.

* * *

A/N: Yes, updating as much as possible. Seriously, if guys don't talk like that when they're doing the whole sport/bending practice thing, I'm sorry that it's inaccurate. Didn't really research it. Plot thickening nicely, though. At least, I think so.

E: Want to know a secret? ZFF had no idea what Zuko's "Wonder Excuse" was when she wrote that bit. Kind of explains how weak it was…

ZFF: Hey! So he gets a break from the stress because I gave him with random happy. And, yes, I wrote that detail without knowing how I'd work it out. But mouring period before royal weddings still counts. So I wanted to write him happy after all the stress and junk I handed him, so sue me.

Zuko: Well, thanks for all that. Really, I so very much enjoyed it.

ZFF: I still kept the nobles at bay.

Zuko: You are the one who sicced them on me.

ZFF: Is that a mob of shipping fangirls whipped into a frenzy over season three news?!

Zuko: (running away swiftly)

E: Heh heh heh… Mean, ZFF. Mean but funny….

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	9. Late Night Excursions

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, Katara would still have hair loopies in season three. I own nothing. Except the writing, that's mine.

* * *

Mai stretched out on her bed, thinking. _Tinh gave me the diary, obviously expensive. He couldn't be trying to buy me surely? Of course not. He may not know me _too_ well, but he knows me better than that. And he did spread rumors about my caring for Zuko. That was misunderstanding, certainly, though I doubt he still harbors… feelings… for me. Blast this all._

She decided to rise for some water, abandoning the futile pursuit of sleep. Walking through the spacious Earth Kingdom halls to the secluded kitchen, Mai did her best to banish all thoughts of her personal life. Instead, she focused on her coming mission. A messenger had arrived earlier bearing news from Kyoshi Island. It told of five warriors to accompany her on the mission, also Sokka of the Water Tribe and Toph Bei Fong who would join the expedition before its end. Mai did not relish the thought of again meeting this warrior after he'd gained knowledge of her involvement of Suki's death. She remembered keeping her silence in the Earth King's hall when he'd deferred Ty Lee with Suki's name. Mai sneezed.

"You…" she said, turning to Ty Lee's cat. "Why are you following me?" The cat merely cocked her head and kept the distance she had maintained. Mai shook her head and continued walking.

* * *

_Maybe I'll just take a very short nap,_ Zuko thought to himself, groggily looking down at the rather inviting pile of papers he was halfway through signing. The next thing he knew papers were sticking to his face and he was shouting some incoherent reply to being woken suddenly. He focused on his assailant, recognizing Mai's cousin. 

"Tinh? What do you want?" he asked, peeling the forms from his face with as much dignity as humanly possible. Tinh blinked and motioned that Zuko had something on his cheek. Using a handkerchief, Zuko darkly noted that he seemed to have a moderate amount of smeared ink on the side of his face.

"There's a message from Mai," Tinh said, handing a page and note to Zuko. "It's urgent." Zuko scanned the note, then turned it over and read the side addressed to him. Any sleep left in him departed with a rising chill of fear battling a feverish anger rising in him. He grabbed the note, examining it in the failing light of his candles. Zuko noticed the light rising and saw that Tinh had taken the liberty of retrieving more candles and lighting them. Zuko nodded to him and once again turned to the note.

It was Azula's calligraphy. Her mentality. Her political way of threatening them. Zuko cursed—this was Azula's.

He rose and walked quickly to a removable slat in the wall. He pulled the tab and string it revealed, and then went back to his desk. "Tinh?"

"Yes, Fire Lord?"

"Thank you for bringing this news to me. Have there been any other messages from Mai like this?" Zuko asked.

"No sir, this is the first." Zuko rubbed his temples, doing his best to think rationally.

"Do you know much of my sister?" he asked, looking at Tinh, who stood off to the side with his arms folded behind his back.

"Yes sir, a considerable amount."

"Then please tell me when I start rambling like a paranoid madman. Azula wrote this message and got it to the ship Mai and Ty Lee were on. That means she has followers who have such information and ability to reach her and the ship. Mai's comments on the ink and paper are accurate, as are her assessments that she must also have followers in the city. So there are possible guards, servants, and populous who wish to dethrone me. Lovely. Enter," he said to a knock at the door. A male servant walked in, waiting ready for orders. "I need three guards and coffee. That is all," he said.

"What do you plan to do, Fire Lord? If I may be so bold as to ask, sir," Tinh asked from his standing position beside of Zuko's desk.

"Go to the cells. Talk to Azula. Drink some coffee so I don't fall asleep on my feet."

"What do you plan to say to her?" Tinh asked. Zuko sat and thought a moment. Mai's cousin certainly was intelligent for someone barely a year older than him.

"Well… she will start by playing innocent. Then try to goad me into losing my temper, probably about Father's death and honor. I can't lose my temper or change my stand. Maintain the truth that she has followers. Oh spirits, why did you give me a sister like Azula?"

* * *

Mai set a saucer of milk on the kitchen floor for Akamai Huong and sat at one of the servant's tables to drink her water. She thought of the brief descriptions of the Kyoshi warriors. Mizu, the new leader. _The girl Azula scarred._ Neko, who was fond of cooking and making things. Talented with her hands and curious. She would make meals more often than the rest and jury-rig solutions when needed. Lien, who loved flowers, poetry, and painting. She was the weapons specialist. Hamako, who adored sea travel and the stars. She was the navigator, intelligent and fast. Isamu, youngest of the party coming and something of an adopted younger sister to Suki and Mizu. She loved animals. And then Mizu, strongest, serious, scarred, and loving to her own and those who needed help. Mai wondered at her ability to forgive the brutal murder of her sister in arms. 

A meow from the floor broke Mai's reverie. "I saw how you ate at dinner—there's no way you need more milk." Mai placed the dish into one of the sinks with her water and began to walk back to her room, Hua silently following her.

Then there was the matter of Sokka of the Water Tribe and Toph Bei Fong. They'd fought on the same side on the day of Black Sun, though it seemed a stretch to Mai that they should be particularly friendly. She opened the door to her room and went in. Hua seemed to have disappeared somewhere between the kitchen and that point, leaving Mai to her thoughts in her room.

Picking up her journal, Mai began to write.

* * *

"One last thing to consider, Fire Lord Zuko," Tinh said as shadows in the door jam showed the guards had arrived. Zuko inclined his head to Tinh. "Going to tell Azula would tip any element of surprise we could have against her. I'm just saying it seems worth consideration." 

"If Azula had the followers to get the message to Ty Lee and Mai, she definitely has followers here. They will have told her of your coming here, and she will already know of the soldiers outside my door, if not have her drones among the servants already knowledgeable. So far, it doesn't seem like I have many surprise elements to safely rely on. Though it was a good point," he said, standing and walking to the door. "Would you accompany me? She already knows whose side you're on." Tinh nodded and followed him. "To the dungeons, men," he directed the guards, walking in that direction.

* * *

"My Lady, the Fire Lord is coming," an old servant said in a hushed tone, crouching in a shadow outside Azula's cell. 

"He is not the Fire Lord, good man. He is nothing but my big brother Zuzu."

"Forgive me, my Lady. Zuzu is coming to your cell. You have about seven minutes," he told her.

"Good work. You may be gone," Azula told him, curling into a small ball on her cot, trying to fall asleep as best would facilitate accurate feigning of the action.

* * *

"Azula, wake up," Zuko barked at his sister. She remained motionless. He motioned to a guard to hand him an object at the guard's feet. Zuko threw the contents of the object, a bucket of water, onto his sister. She gasped and bolted. Azula stood and turned to face her brother, wringing the wetness from the back of her prisoner's uniform. 

"Cruel and unusual punishment, Zuzu?"

"Don't play cute, Azula. I'm here to talk," he said, trying to keep emotion from his voice and face.

"My, you are growing so like Father." Zuko grit his teeth, yet stopped when it occurred that Azula may catch the gesture.

"Mai received a letter the other day which you wrote," he said seriously.

"I suppose his spirit of ill will had to go somewhere when he died, and who better to bequeath it to than his murderer?" Azula mused, looking at her short, chipped nails.

"Azula, we're not here to talk about our parents," he told his sister.

"Or perhaps it wasn't so much that he wished to give it to his murderer, but a last gift to his son." Zuko found himself balling his fist and inwardly cursing that he'd not planned more what to say.

"Azula! Did you have followers get a message saying 'I'm not dead yet,' signed 'Rightful Fire Lady Azula' onto the ship Mai and Ty Lee were on?" he asked, unhappy that his voice was showing the lack of patience.

"Mai and Ty Lee were on a ship? Oh, lovely! Where were they going?" Azula asked, seemingly taking great interest in her friends' excursion.

"Azula! You wrote this note! You had followers give you the supplies! You had followers get it onto the ship! You are conspiring against me!" he barked at her. Azula raised her eyebrows at him, pouting prettily.

"Well, big brother, if you already know all this, then why should you even come and see me? To say 'hi' before you kill me like you did Father? To merely observe my worthless state, unable to dry the water from my own soaked shirt?" Azula shifted her gaze to Zuko's left. _Tinh._ "Who's your friend? Oh, Zuzu, you've finally found someone who loves you! Is he the next Fire Lady?" Zuko breathed deeply. _She's trying to goad you, just like you knew she would. And you're standing here falling for it._ _Breathe, just breathe. You can firebend, she can't. You have the country, she doesn't. You have all the power._

"Azula, you are mistaking me for yourself in that way. Just because you are perverted so doesn't mean I am." _You goad me, I goad you. I have the power, Azula. Not you. Not anymore._

"Such a low-brow attack Zuzu. Besides, merely because I will never know love and marriage to a good man because you'll kill me doesn't mean you can't." _Azula is an opportunist, a liar._

"I'm not here to exchange banter with you, Baby Sister. I am here for names. Who are your followers?" Zuko said lightly.

"Let's see, there's Mai, Ty Lee, the army, the navy, the palace guards, the servants, the citizens," she said, listing off the items one per finger.

"Fine, Azula, have it this way. There are other ways of making you talk. Sleep well, Zula. Guards, we're leaving." Zuko turned around, followed by Tinh, then the guards.

"Bye-bye, Zuzu! Sleep tight…" she called in a singsong voice.

* * *

Mai woke suddenly, trying to think of what had caused her to do so. _A dream. Zuko. Me. Azula. Death._ She couldn't remember the dream other than those four facts of it. Agni, it was terrible, but she just couldn't remember what in the world had happened. She stood slowly from her bed and looked out the window.

* * *

Zuko dismissed the guards and stormed back to his study, Tinh following mutely behind, probably because there was only one way he knew out of the dungeons. "My study," Zuko told him, barely angling his head towards Mai's cousin. 

In his study Zuko sat heavily in his chair, offhandedly for Tinh to have a seat.

"Objectively, how much of a failure was that little mission?" he asked.

Tinh tented his fingers and thought for a second before answering. "She was prepared, more so than you. She knew she was going to antagonize you, most certainly lie, and of course give no information. Though considering how blunt some of her tries were, the prison is dulling her a bit. A suggestion for further interrogation would be to start lightly depriving her of food. Post trusted guards, ones whom you know, to her cell so servants aren't able to supply her with food." Zuko simmered for a moment, wordlessly digesting all of it. "Agni, she's everything I'd read and about her. And this is only the third time I've ever seen her."

"Try growing up with her—that's fun like tooth surgery. Right. Thank you for your involvement, Tinh. Expect that this is most certainly not the first time you'll help me with her, if you're willing. I need people I can trust against her."

Tinh seemed a bit taken aback, though he stood from his seat and bowed. "It would be my honor, Fire Lord Zuko." Zuko signaled that he could leave.

He looked out to the starry black of the Fire Nation night sky. _And how much time for sleep do I have left? Oh, the many joys of family._ He left his desk as it was, checking in his pocket for Mai's and Azula's notes. He gave a slight, sleepy smile at the high quality paper and ink of Mai's writing and went off to scrounge some sleep from the remainders of the nights.

* * *

A/N: There are no homosexuals in my fic. Azula is just trying to be unpleasant. Okay, going off for a week without a computer soon, so I'll go write chapter ten. Bye-bye. And sorry for the comparative low quality of this one. XP 

Jesus saves!

ZFF


	10. Meetings

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, you could be sure that Ty Lee's swimsuit would be A LOT more conservative. Obviously, I only own the writing below, not the content. Though the beloved OC's are all mine.

A/N: Sorry it's been so dreadfully long. A week away and reading obligations and all that. (My summers tend to cram a lot of stuff into the last couple of weeks.) Though, since the promo for season three has a Maiko kiss, I can hardly justify making you wait much longer! In congratulations to your ship, I dedicate this chapter.

* * *

Mai looked dismally around her suite for the last time: gathering the way the light played through the sheer curtains, her small luggage near the door, the Earth Kingdom furniture, and the belts of spring-loaded arrows on the vanity table. She purposefully strapped them on, feeling the weight, familiar yet new again. She let out a nearly imperceptible sigh and lightly traipsed for the door.

* * *

_I knew it was all too good to be true—the entire dream…_ Zuko thought to himself, scowling at the nobles from behind his wall of fire. Below him in the court they argued about the best way to choose each his own daughter's, niece's, and younger sister's best way to become Fire Lady. Their veiled insults, masked innuendos, and self serving agendas— all of it made Zuko sick. Wasn't this what he had wanted done away with? Lock Azula and her lies up, set a time for her execution, usher the Fire Nation into a new Golden Age? 

And now he was sitting in the throne room, seething about nobles bickering over women, and he couldn't tell if he preferred it to conversations on soil erosion.

Considering the fact that they could care less about, much less pay attention to, his ideas on the matter, Zuko decided to let his mind wander until it seemed like a good time to bring up other issues.

_Really, it was too good to be true… especially the part about Mai_...

* * *

Ty Lee hugged Mai goodbye for what felt like the sixth time that day, talking about keeping in touch and so forth. Mai's eyes flickered to Akamai Huong, whom she could swear was smiling on the brink of laughter at her. 

"And make sure to write!" Ty Lee reminded her friend earnestly, releasing Mai.

"You officially became worse than my mother about reminding me to write… eight repetitions ago. She only asked me once," Mai said, kneeling. She looked at the cat, and held out a bent finger to it. Hua put her paw on Mai's finger, as though signifying they had shaken on some silent agreement. "Is your letter ready? The one to Azula for her last day?" Mai asked, still looking at the cat.

"I still need some time on it," Ty Lee answered soberly. They lapsed into a thoughtful silence as Mai stood and looked over at the assembling soldiers and lone Yuu Yan archer.

"It doesn't seem real, does it?" Ty Lee asked quietly after a bit. Mai said nothing, yet looked at her. "You know—Zuko's Fire Lord, we're here in the Earth Kingdom to promote peace, and Azula of all people is sentenced to _die._ None of it seems real, really. Just standing here in Omashu, knowing what we're about to go do, it seems like someone else's life." Ty Lee's cat jumped into her arms then draped itself across her shoulders.

"For better or worse, it's our life now," replied, and then walked off to check on the preparations.

* * *

"Where are you going, Uncle?" Zuko asked, turning. He saw General Iroh standing a bit off, apparently walking in the opposite direction of Zuko's study. It was uncommon for Iroh to have something scheduled other than the post-meeting debrief, and Zuko couldn't think of anything on the ever changing agenda to conflict. 

"Fire Lord Zuko? Do you not remember?" Iroh asked, walking back to him. "We are having tea with the Water Tribe Ambassador. It's been on the calendar for a few weeks."

"Right," Zuko answered. _Three weeks ago… that at least explains why I don't remember it._ "When did he arrive?"

"Just this morning, about three hours after sunrise," Iroh answered.

Zuko followed his uncle to one of the drawing rooms. As a standing servant opened the door and Zuko saw the ambassador, he noted in greatly suppressed shock just how forgetful he was becoming.

* * *

"Halt!" Mai called to her company. They had just reached the meeting point with the Kyoshi warriors. Taking out a brass telescope, Mai looked down the road they were due to arrive on. Somewhat far off in the distance, she could see them. 

_Six_…._ The communications said five. This is not particularly good. Perhaps the extra is merely a traveling escort. Though, if she were a traveling escort, wouldn't there be two extra? This complicates things._

The Kyoshi warriors were astride ostrich-horses, slower than the mounts Mai and her company rode, yet quick enough. They eventually arrived, though not before Mai had proper chance to assess them.

_The one in front—no headband, short black braid, familiar face and glint of continuous defiance mixed with care in her eyes. Mizu. Next to her, the girl's a bit small, young looking. Most likely Isamu. And the one with the map must be Hamako. Behind her, the girl looking off to the side, laughing. Seems likely she's Neko. The ones riding beside her, I have no idea. She could be the extra or Lien._

They eventual reached the Fire Nation party and dismounted. Mai and Mizu walked forward. Mai recognized the calculating, nearly emotionless look the warrior was giving her. They sized one another up for a moment, than Mai spoke, bowing:

"It is an honor to perform this mission, Mizu of Kyoshi Island," she said.

"We are greatly fortunate to have you as our allies," Mizu answered with a Fire Nation bow (not a perfect one, yet good enough to count and not bad enough to be an insult). They stood again, eyes flickering to the other's company.

"I was unaware that another warrior had been added to the party," Mai commented.

"She's only here for the archer," Mizu answered, beckoning the unknown girl from her team. She was tall and lean in a sturdy way, her long brown hair tied in a loose tail falling to her shoulder blades. The girl smiled as she came forward. Mai didn't particularly understand all the details of this, yet understanding the hints and the girl's face, she called the archer to the front.

"You must be Lady Mai. It is an honor to meet you," the girl said politely with a customary Fire Nation bow.

"This is Keiko," Mizu said, looking from Mai to the Yuu Yan archer. "And you must be Ran." The archer bowed silently, and Mai reasoned the end.

"The Fire Lord sends his blessing," she assured the radiant warrior and retiring archer. They bowed gratefully and stood a bit off from the rest.

Mizu looked back to Mai. "This is Hamako, Neko, Isamu, and Lien." Mai nodded to each in turn. "We'll be watering out ostrich-horses and then head out in about ten minutes?" Mai nodded again and went back to her company.

_I really know nothing about these soldiers…_Mai thought, returning to her team.

* * *

"Hello, Fire Lord Zuko. General Iroh." Ambassador Katara rose to greet them with a smile on her face. 

"It is so good to see you again, Ambassador Katara," Iroh assured her, warmly taking her hands. Zuko merely nodded and sat tiredly.

"How have things been since the Day of Black Sun?" Katara asked, pouring a fragrant tea.

"Hectic, to say the least," Iroh answered, passing a cup to Zuko and then taking his own. "Monumental tasks arise when bringing a country out of a hundred year war.

"I understand," Katara said sipping her tea. Zuko tasted some of his own, and found his thoughts drifting back to Ba Sing Se.

"That mentioned, I have quite a bit of work to do, and must be off," Iroh said, rising. "Thank you for the tea, Lady Katara." She looked somewhat taken aback at Iroh's sudden and rather out of character announcement, yet still nodded and bade him farewell. Iroh left, leaving the Fire Lord and Water Ambassador alone.

"So… How bad is it?" Katara questioned, apparently noting Zuko's sleepless eyes and haggard posture.

"Bad." Zuko drank more of the tea, doing his best to relax.

Seeming to feel some obligation to conversation or something of the sort, Katara continued. "I've heard some of what's going on. People are blaming vengeful water spirits for the drought in the South. Political unrest everywhere. Nobles demanding very much from you."

"You don't know the half of it," Zuko said, doing his best to suppress the urge to put his head on the table.

"I know some. The city's newspaper is very informative." Another silence stretched on while they emptied their cups.

"So… How have you been? You specifically," Katara asked.

"Tired. Frustrated. I actually never knew that nobles could make decisions about my future without actually attaining my permission first," he said, pouring himself another cup.

"And you're referring to the fact that the first page of the papers are saying you'll marry before the season's out?" Katara asked. Zuko scowled.

"Didn't know they were _that_ informative."

"It's politics," Katara said with another swallow. "Though the papers can't seem to agree on whom you're going to marry. It seems somehow wrong that the news is so focused on that issue while crime rates are climbing, new levels of trade are opening in the nations, and the Avatar is still trying to keep peace in troubled areas." Zuko grunted his assent.

"I don't suppose you have Water Tribe nobles arranging marriages for you left and right?" he said.

"Their sons are all too scared of me," Katara laughed, earning a grin from Zuko. "But really, Zuko, it is important. Don't marry someone just to please your people. These nobles are can come and go and be replaced, but your wife is going to be there with you all the time. She'll be your strength and rest. Find someone you love, Zuko." Katara grinned. "Even if you do have to find her quick to appease the snake-vultures." Zuko grinned and sat where he was to think while Katara excused herself.

_Maybe there _was _something to that dream after all…_ Zuko thought, remembering the Dream-Mai's smiling face.

* * *

"Mai—can I speak with you privately?" Mizu asked her as they stopped for camp that night. The Kyoshi warriors and Fire Nation soldiers had already set up camp and were working on dinner. Mai cast a quick look them, then nodded and followed Mizu. 

After a bit, they stopped by a sluggish river near the campsite. Mizu leaned against a large, pale boulder, and watched the moon and water in turn. Mai looked dismally around, waiting for Mizu to begin speaking.

"Somehow, it feels wrong," she eventually began. Looking at Mai, she continued: "Sending one more warrior off. Saying goodbye to her because of another Fire Nation citizen. I know she's happy and I have no right to stop her, but it just seems so very wrong." Mai made no reply, though thought it best not to hold the warrior's gaze.

"Did you know?" she asked after the pause. "That the Yuu Yan archer was for her?"

"No," Mai replied instinctively. "My information was that he was retiring to the Earth Kingdom to be with someone he met here." Mizu grimaced.

"It's strange. To think, after all these years, the faceless soldiers of the enemy are sharing our campsite as allies. You don't know them, do you? Maybe information, birth dates, home towns, battles in the past, but not them." Another pause lapsed as they both watched the river flow past.

"I know each girl out there. We were friends growing up. We trained together, played together, ate together, grew together. I know her favorite flower, dish, constellation, weapon, and time of year. And now I'm handing my Keiko over to someone I hardly know a thing about." Mai could read the developing bitterness in Mizu's face.

"In the Fire Nation, Yuu Yan archers are highly esteemed. Their skills are greatly respected, and no matter the outcome of the war, and most would be welcomed back as war heroes simply because of whom they were. But in the Earth Kingdom, where their tattooed masks are most likely a symbol of death, he can never hope for such veneration. I may not know him, but for a Yuu Yan archer to come to the Earth Kingdom like this and still be happy with the choice, he must love her very much." Mizu considered Mai for a moment, and then looked back at the moon.

"When the Avatar left Kyoshi Island, we used to tease Suki about her relationship with the Water Tribe boy. On and island like that, everyone knows almost everything about everybody else. It's just hard to accept someone whom we know nothing about, other than that Keiko loves him." Mizu stood abruptly and looked at Mai. "I didn't lie for the politics of it when I said you'd make good allies. We do want the war to be over. We're just not used to how foreign some things are yet." She gave Mai a half smile that spoke of so many past things then turned back to camp. Mai followed her to see a stew simmering in the fire pit.

"At least it won't take forever to get the fire going anymore," a girl commented, sampling their dinner and adding some spice.

* * *

Later, Mai sat in her tent by the light of candles to make her first report:

_The Kyoshi Warriors seem very willing, yet somewhat reluctant about this arrangement. They are adjusting well and seem optimistic on the whole. I had a conversation with Mizu, the new Kyoshi Leader, which set many things into a brighter light. She admits that much about the alliance feels wrong, yet it is the right thing to accomplish. Something that was giving her many misgivings is the Yuu Yan archer's relationship to "the girl in the Earth Kingdom" he was coming to stay with. As things turn out, she is a Kyoshi warrior. They are splitting from the group to travel back to Kyoshi Island in the morning. Mizu admitted that she was less than enthusiastic about the union, though she will not stand against it. She is willing to work with us, and also willing to let go of nearly inherent reservations related to Fire Nation citizens._

_Something that particularly caught my attention about her was that, unlike the rest of the warriors, she wore no headband. The leader's headband, previously worn by the late Suki, was more elaborate. Azula wore it during her deception against the Earth King. Since she stopped wearing it then, I have no idea where it went. More so than recovering Suki's remains, restoring this item would show in immeasurable ways how very much we wish to repair relations to those whom we were once at war with._

_Also, it would do a great service if I could have more detailed information on the soldiers in my company. More personal information than hometowns, battles, and birthdates. Something to help me better know the soldiers themselves. In these times and present company, it seems best to know my men rather than know of them._

_Your loyal servant,_

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long. Really, I am. And next week I'll be gone again. Yikes, sorry. I will try to update feverishly again. And finally I can start with relationship stress, now that the plot is firmly established. (Hurray.) And to whomever asked me (because I had so much trouble finding it in the reviews): yes, Zuko does have some friendship with the Gaang, not just that he tolerates them. So, I'm not looking for places to stuff Zutara in; I just like Katara's character. 

In other news, am I the first Kyoshi&Yuu Yan shipper? I know Kyoshi&Dai Li has been done, but that about the cool tattooed archers?

God redeems.

ZFF


	11. Conversations

Disclaimer: You can bet that if I owned Avatar, they wouldn't be showing so much skin in season three. (What? It's true.)

A/N: And here is my shameless last ditch effort to update before I have another week away. And thanks again for all the reviews, people who added this to their favorite stories, story alerts, and other viewers who haven't done a thing except read. Thank you all!

* * *

Mai looked at the ex-Yuu Yan archer and his betrothed, saddling up near the rest of the Kyoshi warriors and talking about the roads they were taking that day. From what she'd been told, this is where they left, though it seemed the two had every intention of coming with the party, and heading still further away from Kyoshi Island.

"They're just staying on till the next town," a friendly voice offered behind Mai. She turned with practiced precision to the young warrior behind her. "I'm Neko, again. Just in case, like me, you're bad with names at first." She gave a rather kitten-like grin, lightly sloshing the water in the bucket she held. "There, they'll pick up a mount for him and head back to Kyoshi Island. Next town's just a bit far for that, so they're going out of their way a bit."

The two looked on in silence for a moment before Neko continued. "I know, with all the goodbyes and things yesterday, it seems a bit anticlimactic?" She gave a short, somewhat dry, chuckle. "It was Hamako's idea. She and Keiko are like sisters, and she can always convince Keiko she's right. Well, I suppose actually she is…. Well, I should let you get back to work. Look forward to riding with you," she ended, and then left Mai as she walked over to water the ostrich horses.

_Very friendly, that girl…_ Mai mused, then went about checking the fittings on her saddle.

* * *

Zuko looked to his uncle over Mai's report, which he had just read aloud.

Iroh was silent for a moment, and then spoke carefully. "It would seem that Azula herself is the only person who could tell us where Kyoshi's headband is…. Though outright questioning would be futile—she would only lie, or give a bit of the truth overwhelmed with layers of deception."

"That would appear to be so." Zuko scanned the paper once more. He rose and pulled the cord hidden in a panel in the wall, summoning a servant. "Call Nobleman Tinh here—I have a job for him," Zuko said with a spark in his eye.

* * *

Tinh looked up from his weather projections to the knock at the door. He stood, laying down the ruler and compass, and walked to it, somewhat surprised at the servant standing there.

"The Fire Lord wishes to speak with you straight away," he said with a bow.

Tinh dismissed him, quickly washing the charcoal and ink from his fingers, and hurried to the Fire Lord's study. When he arrived, his sovereign looked at him, his first glance somewhat like an appraisal. Guessing that he'd been approved for whatever job it was, Tinh bowed and waited for permission to sit.

"Right. Tinh." He waved Tinh to take a seat and gave a thoughtful look to the paper in front of him. "I received Mai's first report earlier today. She mentioned that she didn't know much about the soldiers." Zuko paused and Tinh took this opportunity to speak:

"Yes, but sir, was she not given the customary information—ages, previous battles and experience, home towns and so forth. I take it she requires more in depth information than is customary?"

"Actually, yes, exactly that. She was commenting on certain information, and I completely agree that in light of certain…happenings, it would be best to know very much more about those soldiers than we do at this moment," Zuko said.

"And you want me to do what exactly? Research these men more thoroughly? No… more than that," Tinh added, reading Zuko's face.

"I want personal information. What food they eat, what they do in their spare time, what their peers think of them, how they are remembered, the possibility that they work for Azula, things like that." Tinh considered this for a moment, thinking carefully.

"Why did you think of me for this job?" he asked, meeting Zuko's eyes.

"Because I trust you," Zuko answered immediately. "And of the extremely few people here whom I would genuinely say I trusted, you would arouse the least amount of notice in your investigation." Tinh nodded faintly, though still seemed to be considering something.

"I won't require payment, though I would ask one thing," he said evenly, looking carefully at a leg of Zuko's desk rather than at the Fire Lord himself.

"And that would be?" asked Zuko, somewhat cautiously.

"I would like the opportunity to speak with Azula and question her in the process of my research."

* * *

"So, Mai, what's it like in the Fire Nation? I wasn't with the warriors who helped storm the palace on the Day of Black Sun," Isamu questioned Mai in a sociable way as they rode. "I've heard the usual, like it's hot and that the sun's brighter and the sunsets are a lot more spectacular than the orange and pink we usually see, but—"

"Isamu, give her a chance to reply!" Neko chided the girl with a breath of laughter. "Though it would be interesting to know more from a native's point of view."

"It is a lot hotter than here, and the sunsets are more impressive," Mai commented, trying to overcome her usual distaste for random conversation. "In growing up it seemed like there were fewer benders around, though that was most likely because they were off… busy," Mai started. "You are more likely to see people who look more alike than certain diversity that is seen in the Earth Kingdom. People aren't so much associated by what town they're from as by what family and basic section they're from—north, south, capitol, east, and west." She waited for comment from the young warriors, then thought of what else to speak of. "There are fewer family owned businesses, more of them centering on government owned business and delegations. There are more corporations than individual shops."

"Excuse me, but 'corporation'? What exactly does that mean?" Isamu asked.

"That's when instead of two shop owners who sell the same thing competing, they team up and have one name and treasury and such for two shops, both owned by the people as partners," Neko told her. "They tend to grow up bigger, putting more shops in more areas."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Mai commented.

"Yeah—got a Fire Nation boyfriend we don't know about, Neko?" Isamu questioned with a wicked grin.

"Oh, ha ha," Neko replied sarcastically. "So, Mai, what are Fire Nation boys like?" Mai looked at her for a moment, as though she were confused, yet completely understood the question in spite of it. Neko looked at her in unmasked surprise. "Oh, come on! An good looking girl like you, a good family, and astoundingly skilled with weapons? No way you've never had a boyfriend."

"I see color in her cheeks—she's had one," Isamu proclaimed, leaning in her saddle to get a better look at Mai's face. "And I bet he was a good kisser, wasn't he? Yes, the color proves it all!"

In all her rigorous training, nearly impeccable planning, and hypothetical scenario preparation, never before had Mai been confronted with actually having to converse with people her experience in…_dating._ They seemed nice enough, not intending to interrogate, humiliate, or otherwise speak to Mai in an unfavorable way. They were just being… teenaged girls, speaking to another teenaged girl on a… regular topic. Ty Lee had known her better and avoided certain topics as best her impulse control had allowed, yet those exchanges had hardly prepared Mai for saving face in a group of people questioning her about… oh Agni, about how the _Fire Lord_ _kissed_

_Pits of judgment, this speaking-like-a-regular-girl thing is less than pleasant,_ Mai thought to herself. _Well, avoiding the issue would only make it worse. Speaking on it would be nearly as bad. Drat, interrogations are so much easier when you don't have personal circumstances involved._

"You don't have to tell us who or when—or even a bunch of details, really. We just want to know a bit more about what species boy, subspecies Fire Nation boy, is like," Neko prodded, seemingly to relieve some of the pressure Mai supposed it was obvious she was under.

"Though, if you just happened to slip a few things in, say, height, eye color, and a few things like that, we'd be sure not to tell anyone," Isamu put in. Mai had no idea why a grin was attempting to make its way onto her face.

"He was taller than me, though not by much. Gold eyes, like most Fire nation boys. He's driven, dedicated, and a good man," Mai listed.

"And apart from the professional reports, he is also a good kisser, apparently," Isamu interjected.

"He is… enjoyable company," Mai answered.

"Is he a gentleman?" Neko asked. "Like, when you would go on a date, he'd be respectful, good conversation, and you of course wouldn't be expected to pay for a thing."

"Quite a gentleman," Mai agreed.

"So… how serious was the relationship, if you don't mind my asking?" Neko said politely.

"I have no idea, really. I was entirely happy with him; though… the Day of Black Sun came before any… future plans could be decided on. And after, we've both been… preoccupied. Any relationship we had that wasn't entirely professional is simply more than either of us could afford."

"You'll get back together, if he's worth it," Isamu said confidently.

"Oh?" asked Neko, looking across Mai to her fellow warrior.

"Well, from what Mai said, this guy would have to be pretty smart to get wherever he is now. There's just no excuse for a guy like that to let a girl like Mai go by. Politics and whatever else aside," the warrior reasoned aloud.

"By the way—whose side was he on, on the Day of Black Sun?" Neko asked.

"The Avatar's. He was probably on the Avatar's side the whole time."

* * *

"Why do you need to speak with Azula?" Zuko asked disbelievingly.

"I told you—for the investigation," Tinh answered calmly.

"She is a liar. Manipulation comes as easily to Azula as walking," Zuko warned him.

"I am fully aware of that, Fire Lord. But in her lies and manipulation, she will talk. Even Azula can make mistakes. And the best lies come from mixing truth in the layers—if I speak with her enough, I'm sure I can get the right fragments of truth from her," argued Tinh, as respectfully as possible.

Zuko thought for a moment: The possibility that Tinh would take this task if his condition were not met seemed… less than terribly likely. The dangers it posed were… well, obvious. Though the goal, Mai's safety and five more soldiers whom he could know were not on his sister's side… if Tinh could stand through Azula's treachery, it would be worth it. The only problem with that seemed to be _can he stand up to it?_ Zuko grimaced.

"Fine. To make sure we have all the information—records, exactly what lies she told, how she spoke, how she moved, and how you and I responded, I'll have a scribe there with us. I want to know everything that's going on, things that I might miss," Zuko said determinedly.

"Fire Lord Zuko—" Tinh objected without thought.

"Yes, Tinh?" Zuko asked authoritatively.

"I don't want you there while I am questioning Azula," Tinh stated boldly. "Yes, I completely concede that you have great experience with her dishonesty, yet there is also a certain weakness to it that comes with the experience, a double edged sword really. If you are there, she will focus on tearing apart your concentration and diverting you from the objective. It would be most influential to the process if I were there alone."

"I won't back down from having a scribe in the dungeon with you," Zuko said, more of a command than a statement.

"That is acceptable, Fire Lord," Tinh answered humbly.

Zuko dismissed him and looked out his window to a slowly approaching storm. A spirit storm, as more superstitious citizens would say: No life-giving rain, only black clouds, lightening, and ominous roars of thunder.

"Why do I get the feeling we're playing right into your hands?" he murmured to no one in particular

* * *

_Today I had a conversation with a few of the Kyoshi warriors—that so much is not worthy of note, but more the fact that it was a conversation as friends and, much to my surprise, as girls. I was talking with the two youngest, Isamu and Neko, as we rode. They asked about the Fire Nation, and eventually Fire Nation boys. They seemed strangely adamant in the belief that I must have in the past had a boyfriend. This belief was technically accurate; though it was the first time I'd encountered it._

_In a way, it was strange. If I had ever imagined having a conversation on my—spirits, my _love life_, it would have been with anyone, except maybe Ty Lee or, in a stretch, Mother. I suppose that just comes from the fact that I don't seek out company or friendship, and Ty Lee seems to be my companion best suited for the subject. Who else would I talk to? Azula? That's just wrong on so many levels. But here I am, in the Earth Kingdom, having teenaged-girl type conversations with those whom in the past I've fought. Strange how the world works_...

_But what struck me the most was that it seemed to come naturally. I, one who abhors gossip, who dislikes meaningless conversation, and avoids company for company's sake, was sitting in the saddle talking to two girls about my previous dating experience._

_Not that I told them who my previous boyfriend was—spirits no. They just seemed like they wanted to talk as friends, and the subject came up. Not that I volunteered it. Isamu said some things and color rose in my cheeks. Blasted blushes—what's the point of suppressing my emotions if my own body betrays me?_

_Though… before now I'd never really thought of my previous relationship with Zuko. I suppose after the Day of Black Sun, I'd just assumed it was over, gone, possibly nothing but a ruse to gain Azula's confidence. That, of course, is my mind talking. My emotions—and Ty Lee and Isamu (they would get along famously)—say differently. But, while it lasted, it was nice being with Zuko_…._ Isamu said that for him to let me go by and settle for another woman would be unforgivably stupid. I don't really share that opinion, though._

_Best not think too deeply about this. Lady Sakura did say that the Fire Lord would be choosing a bride while Ty Lee and I were away. Hmm… At least she doesn't have a snowball's chance in Agni's Throne Room of becoming the next Fire Lady. At least, if Zuko really isn't unforgivably stupid, that is._

* * *

"My Lady," an old servant said from a shadow outside Azula's cell. The dethroned princess looked to the hag, thinking for a moment. Her blood told her it was just past noon, so most likely the woman had slipped out while the lunch was being served.

"Yes, my loyal servant?" she asked, making sure to smile in spite of her nearly empty stomach and slowly chapping lips.

"Mai of the Shan-Tsai family has sent a communication to… um, Zuzu, Princess. She is wary of the soldiers and wishes to know more of them. She is also sympathizing with certain Earth Kingdom customs such as direct knowledge of the team, rather than the Fire Nation's anonymous uniformity in the infantry. She is being influenced by the Kyoshi Warriors," the aged woman reported, brushing an iron colored lock of hair from her eyes as she spoke.

"Is that all?" Azula questioned. The woman produced an egg roll and two strawberries, handing them to the disgraced royal before her. Azula smiled like a tiger eyeing badly wounded prey and accepted the morsels. She picked the stems off the strawberries and gave them back to the old servant.

"That is all," she stated pleasantly, turning her back to the woman.

* * *

A/N: And there goes my last ditch effort to update before I leave. I really should have been sleeping, but no, I had to proof read. (Ignore the author grumbling at herself.)

Am I the only one who thinks I might be getting Mai a bit OC? Maybe I should start putting Cricket Leigh's voice to Mai while I write…

Must… sleep….

God redeems.

ZFF


	12. According to Plan

A/N: I promise that the story is _not_ on hiatus! I've just been away, then sick, then fresh out of summer. So, rather than ramble on about myself, how about I write for you? Sorry it took so long, really.

And I seem to have started a trend where Zutara authors write for Maiko, since Dragon Jadefire has a Maiko fic too, now. "Of Life, Love, and Lies" (maybe I misplaced the commas or switched the words, but that's basically the title. After reading two of four chapters and an author's note saying she changed her mind and it will be a Zutara fic, I wouldn't recommend it to Maiko fans. But that's just an opinion. Ignore me and enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Tinh carefully washed the ink and charcoal stains from his hands and picked up his writing case from beside the crop charts and maps he had been editing. Any level of disarray could be harmful to the task he was about to perform. Tinh checked the sun's height in the sky—just passing noon—and made his way to the door, his mind much lower than his ground floor suite.

Exiting the premium space, he looked about the hallway for the clerk. Not finding him, Tinh continued, doing his best to think logically about the importance of the job rather than the means he was going through to achieve it. He made his way for the southern end of the palace with his mind not so much on the task ahead, but rather the most major detail of it. All the while he was looking for the clerk to document his questioning, though neither the man nor his twin was to be seen in the halls.

"Nobleman Tinh!" a voice called behind him. Tinh turned to see an anonymous male servant in the uniform of gray and red hailing him. Tinh stopped to let the youth catch up and hand him a small scroll. The emblem of the seal was that of the Palace infirmary, the note was a short report with a healer's sign at the bottom:

**To be delivered immediately to Nobleman Tinh, whereabouts conditional**

_**One Palace Clerk, a Yuan Rinzen, has fallen ill to a common food borne illness. He is neither in danger of mortal harm nor in any way capable of fulfilling his office this day. He has notified us that he was to work with you, Nobleman Tinh, on some undisclosed business at present. We assure you that he is in no state to assist you and cannot leave the infirmary until he has recovered, which is estimated at three days. We send our apologies for the inconvenience.**_

_**Journeyman Healer Kisho**_

"You are dismissed," Tinh notified the waiting servant. The boy bowed and hurried off, soon disappearing after the concealed manner of the palace servants. Tinh reread the note and stuck it in his writing case.

"Do you wish to test me, Azula? To see if I depend on others, or am so tied to your brother's rules that I am scared to speak to you alone?" he said under his breath. Shaking his head, he continued south.

* * *

"Mai—you coming to town with us?" Isamu questioned, fishing in the bottom of her pack for something. He face glowed as she brought out a small clinking pouch and tied it to her belt.

"Isamu, don't tell me you're spending the money your parent gave you on something frivolous," Neko chided her, coming up to Mai's side.

"I won't tell you then," she replied, taking the saddle and blanket from her ostrich-horse's back and rubbing the animal down. Neko grimaced with a hand on her forehead. "Don't worry, Neko. I'm not going to waste it. I was thinking of trying something new, that's all. A new skill, not a new shade of ribbon. Anyway, Mai, are you coming to town with us? Lien and Neko are watching camp while Hamako, Mizu, and I are going to the nearest village to restock on provisions."

Mai thought for a moment. "Yes—I could use some supplies. Excuse me." Mai walked over to the soldiers taking the tack from their mounts.

"I'll need one of you to accompany me to re-supply at the market," she notified them. "And a list of any provisions we're lacking."

"Yes ma'am," they answered and set about their tasks.

_I really do need to know more about them…_ Mai thought, turning back to her mount for a map.

* * *

"My Lady," a small girl addressed the prisoner in the cell before her.

"Yes, young one?" Azula asked kindly, smiling to the child.

"The clerk has taken ill. Nhu is in trouble for cooking his food improperly. They suspect that she was distracted by a boy, not that she is loyal to you. The clerk will be quite well by noon, but we are making sure that this Tinh will have no assistance if he speaks with you," the girl rattled off. Azula noted that she seemed quite excited to have been chosen to deliver this message.

"That's a good girl. What's Zuzu doing?" she asked sweetly.

"Scowling in his study," the girl said, beaming. "When I brought him his late breakfast, there was a lot of crumpled paper around. He didn't notice I stole some. I can't read, but it could be important. See?" She produced some papers from her apron, still crumpled, yet quite readable. Azula carefully took them and hungrily devoured the information. Once more, Azula's perfect, catlike smile curled comfortable across her pointed face, lighting her eyes and somehow straightening her already erect posture.

"You, my dear, were born for this," she praised the servant. She looked about ready to burst with excitement. "Can you get me more of these?" And the child's face fell.

"The one in charge of Zuzu's trash is loyal to him, and a bender. He burns them, and then puts the ashes in the water," she pouted. Azula kneeled and put an encouraging hand on the girl's slim shoulder.

"Well, bad things happen to bad people. He might just have to have an accident, won't he?" Azula beamed at the child, who smiled as though she'd been given a wonderful new toy. "You're a good girl. What's your name?"

"Ursa, after your mother!" the girl answered, obviously excited that Azula herself would want to know her name.

"Ursa… is an old name. New Times are coming. How about a new name? Bian would suit you, since you're so good with secrets."

"Yes, my Lady, of course!" Bian was fairly quivering with excitement now. Azula guessed she couldn't wait to go tell the world of how important she was now.

"But you have to keep it secret, Bian. You can only tell people loyal to me about your new name. Oh, and Lovely? Would you please get me some more information on this Tinh? He'll be out of his room for a while at noon."

"But he won't have the clerk—"

"And he's going to come to talk to me anyway. Go on now, don't waste time," Azula told her, standing again and waving the child away. She darted into the shadows, barely remembering to leave Azula her lunch.

"He most certainly will come to speak to me. You can bet your life on that, child. You will even if you don't know it yet." Azula soon finished the meal.

* * *

"Meet back here in half an hour," Mizu told the company as they reached the market. "It's a small place and this shouldn't take much time." She looked to Mai and the soldier, her eyes halting for no more than a heartbeat, then turned and left.

"Help her carry whatever provisions she buys," Mai told the guard. He nodded and walked off after Isamu and Mizu.

Mai looked to where Hamako had been standing, only to find her gone. Another look revealed the long-limbed girl had a stride to match, since she had already put a fair amount of distance between herself and Mai. Mai walked after her, soon catching up silently. Hamako stopped at a mapmaker's shop and walked in. Mai followed her at a comfortable distance, entering behind Hamako before the door had a chance to close behind the warrior.

"Do you carry waterproof ink? Preferably in colors other than black?" she asked the young woman behind the desk.

"Um… if we do, it will be on that wall," she answered, pointing in Mai's direction. She barely looked up from a second-hand story on the Fire Lord and some battle or another. She sighed at the exaggerated picture of Zuko and remained apparently oblivious to Hamako's barely concealed scoff.

Mai located a bottle of black oil based ink, and behind it blue and green. She snatched them as Hamako case around the corner of the shelves and stopped.

"You." Hamako didn't bother to make further eye contact or to add to her sentence, yet determinedly searched the shelves furthest away from Mai for her ink.

"Here—" Mai held out the three bottles. Hamako looked at Mai's hand as though she were offering a snake, and then gently picked them up. She held each up to the light, shook it, and opened each and sniffed them.

"I've no need for black, and the green and blue are worthless. They'd corrupt my maps, run in the rain, and not interact with other inks as I need them to."

"I didn't know," Mai answered emotionlessly.

"No, I'm sure you didn't," Hamako answered, brushing past Mai to search for more ink. Mai saw she located a single bottle left of oil based, a bright scarlet, and she left it with the other three she couldn't use.

"If you need other colors, I have waterproof inks you could use," Mai offered as she followed the warrior out the door. Hamako stopped abruptly in front of her.

"Look, Fire girl. I don't need your charity. I don't need your help. I don't need your goodwill. And I don't need your Fire Nation ink." She turned away from the market central and headed away from Mai, setting a pace comfortable for one of her stature. Mai scowled at her coming task and pursued Hamako.

"Don't bother, Ambassador," Hamako called over her shoulder. Mai didn't stop. Hamako did, her hands balling into fists. Mai stayed five feet away and waited. Hamako turned to face her, no favoring emotions on her face.

"What do you want from me?" she fairly spat. "To turn pro Fire Nation all of the sudden? To forget all that you've done—you _personally_—have done to my people and me? To just let sit and talk with you like old friends like Neko and Isamu? To pretend I don't hate you for the sake of getting back a warrior you helped kill?" Mai saw that Hamako had unconsciously taken a fighting stance.

"All I want is to repair the damage that's been done," Mai answered without emotion. Hamako laughed bitterly.

"It's too late for that one. You'll finish you little mission, then go back home to your Fire Lord and comfortable palace while back here we're still cleaning up the mess it took you a hundred years to make!"

"I will finish this mission, then I will start on the next one, then the next, and however many it takes until I am dead."

"Whatever," Hamako answered, then turned again and headed down an alley between two buildings. Mai scowled, shaking her head, and gave pursuit once more.

"What has the Fire Nation done to you?" Mai asked, keeping a strategic distance between herself and Hamako in the alley. She had the advantage here, but with Hamako's state of mind no precaution could be an outright mistake.

"Like you'd care," Hamako answered, coming into the street and favoring another alley again. Mai weighed the options of pinning her and decided against it, following the warrior again.

"I do not talk for pleasure," Mai informed her. "I do not ask questions I don't care for." Hamako stopped again and turned in the shadowed alley they now stood in.

"What has the Fire Nation done to me? Only one thing, but it just won't end. The Fire Nation steals. They stole my family's ship designs and adapted metal to them, then deviated the entire structure so it's only recognizable to those of us who know. They stole our waters. They stole our maps and mass produced them. They stole my birthright of a life on the seas. They stole my family's entire history.

"But we made due—with a hundred years of war, people learn to do that. Then I became a warrior. You stole my hero. You stole Suki! I wasn't one of the ones holding Mizu back in the forest. And then you stole Keiko through that archer. And now you're stealing Neko and Isamu. That stupid kid _idolizes_ you, and she's buying knives right now I know, to be like you! Right after she saw you sparring against five firebenders and win. And Neko is going to leave and go to the Fire Nation—just to learn how machines work and her stupid infatuation with dark hair, pale skin, and gold eyes!" Hamako stifled a sob heroically. "Is there any question why I hate you so much?" Greatly restrained tears rolled down Hamako's painted face.

Mai took out the handkerchief Zuko had given her and held it out.

"I can't take those things back. I can't fix all the things that the Fire Nation has done. But I can try to help heal the damage."

Hamako looked from Mai to the handkerchief, her hands balling and falling limp as she thought.

"Don't follow me this time," she said, taking her own green handkerchief out and turning away from Mai. They walked into separate streets, Mai thinking whether she'd done the right thing.

* * *

Ty Lee half laid on the bed the township she was visiting had provided her with in their inn. She looked blankly past her feet hanging in front of her to the page of the plain log she was supposed to be recording a report for Zuko in.

She had very recently learned that she was **not** the sort of person who writes in logs or makes reports.

Or did very well at being a Goodwill Ambassador and herself at the same time.

Or knew how to write to a dour friend for help with being liked.

Ty Lee wasn't adjusting particularly well.

And nothing seemed to go as it had been planned.

She flipped back in her notebook to her first collections of thoughts on the job:

_1) People don't think that my flips and cartwheels are a good way to start a speech._

_2) People don't think having Hua next to me during speeches is good._

_3) People want to know when the Fire Nation is going to replant the crops they burned, not that the Fire Nation wants to repair relations._

_4) People really don't seem to like the Fire Nation._

She lifted her pen and added another entry:

_5) People have some pretty big issues with anything or anyone related to the Fire Nation._

She crossed her ankles pensively in front of her and turned back to the report she wasn't writing.

"For someone so full of goodwill, why is being a Goodwill Ambassador so hard?" she asked Akamai Huong.

* * *

"So you're leaving today?" Zuko asked over his lunch.

"Yes, around dusk if everything goes according to plan," Katara answered. A heavy silence lapsed as neither of the two seemed to feel any need to say anything.

"Things have certainly come a long way," she offered. Zuko mumbled his consent.

"Fine, then Fire Lord—I can't read your mind, so why don't you tell me what you're thinking about? That way we're less likely to end up in some international incident." Katara smirked in spite of herself as Zuko seemed to give up at least five of the many years he had recently aged, coming that much closer to the seventeen-year-old he was.

"Redemption," he answered plainly.

"Any particular kind?" Katara asked, her interest apparently piqued.

"What experience do you have with it?" Zuko asked.

"Well, other than you, another boy I met while traveling with Aang. His name was—is Jet. When we met… well, in a way he seemed too good to be true. He was the leader of a resistance group against the Fire Nation, the Freedom Fighters. Sokka didn't trust him.

"Anyway, as a part of a plan to flood a village that was occupied by Fire Nation troops, he lied to me and used my and Aang's bending.

"Well, we met with him again in Ba Sing Se when we were searching for Appa. I was… less than warm to the idea of cooperating with him again after what had happened the last time we'd worked together. But he seemed to have entirely reformed—left the Freedom fighters, gotten a job, regretted things that he'd done before.

"I didn't believe it. But we needed to work with him to get Appa back. But everything eventually led us to Lake Laogai. The Dai Li were there, and Long Feng. Jet got hurt." Katara stopped for a moment to breathe. "I tried to heal him, but we didn't have time, and he said to go. I haven't seen him since."

"And redemption?" Zuko asked.

"The Dai Li had… done something to his. They'd changed him. But he broke it and attacked Long Feng to save Aang. Whatever he'd done in the past, whatever truth and lies from Long Feng in his story, it didn't matter. He'd broken it and… whatever happened to him under Lake Laogai, he redeemed himself.

"Is that the kind of redemption you're talking about?" Katara finished.

"What? Oh—no. No. What did Jet look like?" Katara looked a bit taken aback, but answered.

"About your height, brown hair and eyes, carried twin hook swords, mismatched armor," she listed. "Why?"

"He just… reminded me of someone I thought I knew."

* * *

"Hey! Stop!" someone yelled off to Mai's right. She turned in the market to see some dark haired, dirty young man running with a plain pouch in his hand.

Before she had a chance to think, Mai's limbs had already thrown the blades. The boy tripped on the nearly invisible wires and went sprawling in the street, his prize flying into a watering trough.

As she went to retrieve her knives, Mai heard laughter and saw three more teens, two boys and a girl, running along the street. The one in front retrieved the bag from the trough and they kept running. Mai abandoned her blades and started after them.

She saw a flash of gold and the first went down—he threw the bag in the air as he fell and the girl caught it. The second boy drew short twin katanas and followed behind her, scanning the crowd with practiced skill.

Mai saw the girl stuff the bag into her belt and draw a short bow and arrow, keeping them down as she ran. Mai was gaining and could see Hamako and Mizu giving pursuit as well.

Near the end of the street, Isamu dropped into their path with her fans. The urchin shot at her, but Isamu deflected the arrow. Isamu advanced and the girl ran to the side, leaving the youngest Kyoshi warrior to deal with her sword bearing partner. Isamu stepped back as he gained momentum advancing. He lunged and she parried, but Mai saw red on her arm and heard her scream.

"Isamu's mine! Take the girl!" Mizu shouted and Mai and Hamako split to follow the thief without arguing. The thief ran down an alley. Hamako gave pursuit while Mai took a practiced leap onto a barrel then the roof and gave chase from above.

_There—_the girl looked back at Hamako and Mai jumped into her path. She looked ahead just in time to avoid Mai with little more than a grazing cut on her cheek and three stilettos in her arm.

"Move!" Hamako yelled, barreling past Mai, gaining on the bow carrying girl. Mai jumped from a crate back to the rooftops and pulled ahead of them again, arriving at the end of the alley in a street just before the other two.

As the thief exited the alley, she turned and shot at Hamako at an angle. Mai acted again without any chance of thought—

She threw a knife. It hit right at the arrowhead, barely a foot from Hamako's face. Mai read the disbelief in Hamako's eyes as she registered that breath of a second where the knife had contacted the arrow. They looked at one another for just as long, and then turned in chase again.

The girl was tiring, slowing only so much. Mai and Hamako were still fresh and running on adrenaline. Hamako send a folded fan to disarm the girl. She kept running. Hamako threw her other fan, hitting the girl in the back of her neck and she stumbled near a house, where Mai pinned her expertly with stilettos.

Hamako retrieved her weapons and Mai walked silently to the girl.

Only now she noticed certain things—this girl wasn't just some urchin. He skin was too pale, her eyes too angled, her chin too sharp. Her hair, in spite of being tangled and dirty like the rest of her, still had the permanent marks of silky softness and sheen of the Fire Nation.

And she was smiling.

"Bye-bye, Mai Shan Tsai," she whispered.

Mai felt a sickening punch in her shoulder, lower back, and leg.

Then all she saw was blackness.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long. This chapter was supposed to have more stuff in it, but it kept getting longer… and really full of stuff. But I'll get the other half of what this chapter had been planned to be next time (which will not take as long as this one did)! So, hope you enjoyed. Next time Tinh will (_finally_) talk to Azula!

Q: How could a loving God send anyone to Hell?

A: Why would a holy God let anyone into Heaven?

ZFF


	13. Noonday Strife

A/N: Hello, everyone. Sorry to leave you hanging with that shameless cliffie for a week.

And, FYI, I don't write cursing (though in some cases it would really fit), so that's what's happening if you see "(censored)." It just occurred to me that that little quirk might be a bit obscure.

I'll shut up and start the chapter now.

* * *

Mai didn't know where or why she was running. Just that she was. She wasn't scared—or bored, or apathetic even. All she felt was calm. She didn't feel her feet. She didn't feel her arms or hands as she drew knives and carelessly flung them at the intruding darkness. In a different state of mind she might have considered this strange, though now it only seemed rational. 

Wait—there, in the vein of her left arm… yes, there, right there, there was something... light pressure, dull spreading, and a prick.

She kept running. To one side she saw a flash of blue scales.

Mai ran tranquilly in the opposite direction.

* * *

"Excuse me, guard, I am to speak with a prisoner," Tinh addressed the officer before him. 

"We were informed that there would be two, a nobleman and a secretary. Where is he?" a second guard asked, not moving away from the dungeon's main entrance door.

"He has fallen ill due to improperly cooked food. I will continue without him. Is there some problem?" Tinh ended, restraining himself from pulling rank.

"No sir," the sentry answered, stepping aside. Tinh walked past him, noticing that the officer had turned to follow him.

"Am I not trusted to speak with the prisoner alone?" Tinh asked, looking back at the man following him.

"Sir, it is merely standard procedure to escort someone with an appointment to see a prisoner," the guard assured him. Tinh let the man pass him and reluctantly followed. He walked behind him through a vaguely familiar path toward Azula's cell.

"Will I require an escort back?" Tinh asked, mildly thinking of his ability to find his own way to the surface.

"Light the torch halfway down the corridor and someone will come to get you," the guard answered. They soon reached a short corridor that gave Tinh the feeling of being far from the sun's warmth.

"Her cell is at the end. Will you need anything?" the guard asked.

"No," Tinh replied, walking past him. "This is all, thank you. You are dismissed." The guard left, his footsteps soon vanishing in the tangled passages that lead to warmth and hope.

Tinh steeled himself and walked forward.

* * *

"What are you going to do about the nobles' demands, Zuko?" Katara asked seriously after yet another silence had developed in her meal with Zuko. 

Zuko scowled thoughtfully at his cup for a moment before answering. "Keep finding quick fixes until they figure out I'm going to take my own sweet time on the matter," he answered with a pessimistic tone, pushing his tea away.

"Be serious, Zuko!" Katara chided him. "You can't just keep pushing this off. Every day you look worse and worse—and if there's one thing you're good at it's hiding how bad things really are."

"Well, if I were only going to be good at one thing, at least I chose one that will help me with my politics." He didn't look at Katara.

"Zuko! Look past yourself," Katara ordered, her eyes taking a fire Zuko had grown familiar with. "Who you marry affects most the world. She will affect relations with the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Aang. She will mark the Fire Nation's healing."

"And I'm just supposed to choose one of these nobles' ridiculous daughters with each and ever bleeding one of them breathing down my neck whispers of doubt, concealed sedition, and unmasked pride and station grappling?" he snapped. To his surprise Katara grinned.

"I'd doubted whether you still had any fire left, Zuko." She took a long, slow drink as he thought.

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Know what you want and don't settle for less or accept refusal," Katara answered simply. "If you can't find that in the nobles' daughters, stall."

"Which is the perfect remedy except I have no idea what these women who are being forced on me are like, I'm running out of ways to put off admitting defeat to the nobles, and I don't think I have much time to sit down and make a list of the qualities found in the perfect woman," Zuko answered.

Katara raised an eyebrow. "You just outlined your own way out of this, you know." Zuko stared at her, a foreign speck of nonsensical blue in a land where her cold, precise, and utterly fluid logic made no sense.

For a second he read on her face that Katara was suppressing the urge to either face-palm herself or laugh at him for his facial expression at the idea.

"They want you to choose one of their daughters, cousins, or whatever else, right?" Katara asked. Zuko nodded. "You don't want to give in and marry some stranger, right?" Zuko nodded. "And each girl they want to be the next Fire Lady is a total stranger, right?" Zuko nodded. "And when they think they're about to win a higher position they will treat you with more respect and possibly even trust your decisions?" Zuko nodded slowly. "And they don't really have to win, just think they're winning before they start cooperating more?"

"Allegedly," Zuko answered.

"Then give the nobles some of what they want. They want you to marry their daughters. Have a meal with some of them. With all these nobles, having a meal a day with each of those girls would buy you at least a month and a half. If you don't have to spend every spare moment thinking of new ways to evade them, you'll have enough time to actually figure out what you need."

Zuko thought for a moment.

"You've put a lot of thought into this."

"No I haven't. Iroh has. He just thought it would be better if someone else told you his plan. He said he's already had a meeting announced for it to the nobles," Katara informed Zuko, pushing aside her tea and standing. "I should be going. Luck, Zuko."

"I'll need more than that," he answered with a hint of a smile.

"Lucky stars are the domain of the night, Tui," Katara commented. "The Water Tribe loans them to you."

Zuko… smiled.

* * *

"What did you do to her!" Hamako cried, striking the female assassin in the cheek again. 

"Hamako, don't cry. Bad Fire girls must die." Hamako struck the girl again with a cry of rage.

"Leave her, Hamako," Lien said with a cold air. "You're exactly what they trained her to be strong against."

"And what am I supposed to do?" Hamako snapped. "Just let her sit here spouting little rhymes while Mai is dying under some useless doctor?"

"I need you to leave here so I can find a way to break her that her guild never prepared her for," Lien answered.

"Fine," Hamako spat. She made for the exit of the vast tent the township had loaned them. Passing the assassin, she lunged and punched the woman deeply in her stomach, knocking the chair she was in onto the ground. The assassin gasped then grinned in a twistedly.

"Broke my ribs in that little fit—"

"And you bet I enjoyed it," Hamako finished.

* * *

"Hello, Miss Azula," Tinh addressed the former princess before him. 

"My title is princess. 'Miss' is for commoners, Nobleman." Azula stood in a stance that spoke of her past rank. "There is a chair in the shadows past this cell, if you would sit." Azula took a simple stool from where her water basin stood and positioned it comfortably in front of Tinh. He took the chair she had recommended and positioned himself opposite her. Tinh opened his writing case, searching for the tools needed to record the meeting.

"How is Mai?" Azula asked as Tinh brought out his supplies.

"I am not here to answer your questions," Tinh answered. "You will answer mine.

"Do you even know which questions to ask? Ooh—how about how many followers I have? Their names? My plans? Zuzu's most embarassing childhood moments?" Tinh paused for a moment and looked into Azula's eyes.

"He doesn't trust you. Zuko doesn't trust anyone anymore. I had the scribe removed to ensure this meeting would be free of bias."

"You did what?" Tinh asked before thinking.

Azula cocked her head and smiled.

* * *

"Hua? What are you doing?" Ty Lee asked as her cat scratched at the wooden shutters. "You want out?" She opened the window and the cat jumped from sill to sill, eventually coming to the ground and running off. 

"Come back soon," Ty Lee muttered glumly, leaning on the ledge. Her less-than-pink musings were soon interrupted by a knock on her door. She opened it to a town messenger.

"There's a visitor for you, miss. Ma'am. Ambassador," he told her, slightly stumbling over his words.

"Thank you. I'll be there in a minute." Ty Lee closed the doors and checked her reflection before descending the stairs.

* * *

Mai started to get the feeling she was tiring. The constant running certainly couldn't be helping. Come to think of it, she had no idea why she was running. She didn't seem to have the choice to stop. Her fatigue lessened when she slowed for a moment, though it seemed not right somehow. 

Much more now she was seeing the blue-scaled dragon. She now heard it speaking, whispering at least.

She noticed that the feelings between stopping and running further turned to true conflict when the dragon came closer.

Mai had come to think that the dragon represented something… less than good. Such concepts had come to seem somehow detached. There was just Mai and the dragon, running and appearing.

And now a cat.

When the cat appeared, the dragon disappeared. Mai felt she preferred this. The cat was familiar and strangely glowed… _pink_.

_Ty Lee. Zuko. Kyoshi Warriors. Missions. Azula. The war. The assassins._

For one thing, Mai knew that she was probably fighting death. Death was bad. Running was probably what was consciously keeping her from death.

And with every step since remembering, Mai lost speed, energy, and ability.

But she gained a reason.

Ty Lee's cat came up beside Mai—had it always been that _big_?—and Mai kept one hand on its back, giving the cat half the effort of staying alive, and kept running.

In the distance she saw a flash of blue.

* * *

"Have you made any progress?" Hamako asked Lien as she left the assassin's prison tent. 

"She's strong, borderline insane." Lien looked into Hamako's eyes for a moment. "No progress." They stood for a moment, lost in thought.

"Where are you going?" Hamako asked as Lien as the warrior began to walk towards town.

"I'm going to see what I can do for Mai."

* * *

"You poisoned the scribe?" Tinh asked, taking small, quick notes. 

"I can't do much from behind cell walls, now can I?" Azula answered.

"You had followers poison him," Tinh asserted.

"Perhaps. Perhaps he merely ate improperly cooked food. Answer me this one thing, Nobleman Tinh. Why did you come to me against my brother's wishes that you have a chaperone?"

Tinh sat there a moment, slightly taken aback. He calculated the dangers of answering and spoke carefully:

"Your brother's very prudent precautions stood in the way of a very necessary and beneficial mission. It was much better that I come today alone than tomorrow as no threat to you, as I'm sure your followers would make known to you."

"And if my brother is discontent that you broke your promise?" Azula asked.

Tinh looked down reflexively then covered it by scanning some report he was holding."I'll handle that when I come to it." Azula smiled in reply and watched as Tinh made his notes. "Azula—I have answered your questions and ask now that you would answer mine: did you arrange for any of your followers to be placed in the company of Mai's soldiers?"

"I have no idea. It's possible I have followers among her number, though I had nothing to do with it. I don't know the number of those faithful to me, or the whereabouts of specific soldiers." Tinh searched her face for a moment before taking notes.

"Why should I trust your word? It's very possible you're lying," Tinh commented, looking up from his papers.

"You knew this before you came, yet you asked the question anyway," Azula answered. Tinh found himself once more at loss for words.

"We will continue this interview later," he said, standing. Tinh gathered his papers and sent a calculated burst to ignite the torch halfway down the corridor from where he had sat and talked to Azula. Tinh began to walk toward it yet stopped abruptly at Azula's last words to him:

"It doesn't seem right, does it? That you've loved her so long yet my brother gets her respect, loyalty, and affection. Shouldn't the Fire Lord be concerned about such injustice?"

Tinh walked away quickly without looking back.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it took so long. Hopefully you enjoyed it! Please tell me what you think about the situations/interactions/character behavior/development and all that good stuff.

To God be the glory.

ZFF


	14. Worth Fighting For

A/N: I'm sorry this has taken so long. I'll be updating more often in about… three weeks…ish. I've just too much stuff going on. I'll be quiet now and write something, kay?

* * *

Mai was tiring, and she knew Akamai Huong was too. The Blue Dragon had ceased retreating, remaining always on the edge of her vision. Mai's thoughts and memories kept getting sharper—thoughts, feelings, experiences fresh and sharp. With each one came some new stab of pain or dull ache or even further loss of energy. 

Mai knew she was dying, and she wasn't about to take that. The cat was definitely dying too.

Though with every step she knew she was drawing closer to her certain end, Mai pushed herself harder. She kept running, endured every bittersweet memory coming to her, each a whetstone bringing every thought into a razor edged focus. All she had to do was keep running, keep going closer to the end. Soon she'd be able to think completely clearly. Then she would be able to figure out how to keep breathing.

* * *

Zuko left to his office, thinking deeply. A passing glance to a highly shined shield stopped him—he was getting frown lines in his forehead. Further inspection revealed also that his passive face bore some unsatisfied scowl rather than the emotionless face he had supposed it to have been. Against himself he searched in the polished bronze at his hairline—still remained where it was last he'd checked, and remarkably free of silver hairs. 

Zuko's eyes fell to the plaque below the shield proclaiming it to have belonged to the Dragon of the West from his most successful military campaign. Zuko frowned at this, another of his uncle's passive reminders of unadulterated truth, and kept walking.

He reached his office and scanned his desk. Zuko found it astoundingly clear. His first thought was that some incompetent spy had been blunt enough to steal his reports rather than merely copying and taking the time to make his own notes. He scowled and walked forward, snatching up a note in the middle of his workspace.

_Zuko—_

_I've taken the liberty of organizing the reports on your desk and dealing with them for this evening. Take the time for something a bit more important—write a list, think of something pleasant, and don't let the demands enter your mind today. There's fresh paper and ink in the drawers. I can see you scowling—and yes, I have taken anything remotely similar to work out of the room past blank paper, ink, and pens._

_There's tea coming—jasmine will help you think._

_Uncle_

Zuko stared at the paper and fixed his scowl determinedly. A knock at the study door revealed a young servant girl bearing tea that smelled distinctly of jasmine. He sat heavily on the comfortable chair behind his desk as he instructed the girl where to put the pot. He waved her out and grinned—

_Finally someone who actually knows me too well **for**_ my own good.

* * *

Mai's memories were coming faster now, shorter, less organized. A moment with Zuko in Ba Sing Se. Icicles. Laughter. Leaving. The ship. Ty Lee talking. Azula smiling in her superior air. Lies. Kisses. Anger. Peace. 

And her chest chose now of course to start burning.

_Spirits… why does dying have to be so unpleasant?_

The cat moved suddenly, taking more of Mai's weight. She felt Akamai Huong's breath growing more ragged, though the cat disguised it as bravely as any human could, measuring each breath to her steps. Mai tried to take more of her dying weight to herself from the animal, though she couldn't seem to—not that the cat appeared to have any intention of letting her.

Still Mai maintained her efforts for her plan. The growing pain, though it sharpened her focus, wasn't helping her think of anything helpful.

She listened carefully outward. Through her own ragged breathing, the cat's padding bounds, the hiss of the Blue Dragon's sharp scales sliding along nothing, and the voices of her last memories, Mai hear something. She heard what she needed: the idea to keep her running. Out there, in the utter black nothingness was the whisper of what she needed:

_Something to live for… Something to live for… Someone to live for…_

* * *

"Lien!" Hamako shouted as her friend staggered out of Mai's sickroom. The girl's face was ashen, her willowy frame now appearing bony and slightly starved. She raised still sharp eyes to her fellow warrior and straightened. 

"What did you do in there? You look more than half dead!" the navigator reprimanded her friend sharply, guiding her to a seat and pushing food at the girl.

"All the better for talking to those near death," she gasped, further avoiding Hamako's oncoming questions by taking a huge bite of bread and chewing slowly. Hamako waited for her friend to finish before assaulting her again.

"What did you do to Mai? Is she all right? What do you mean 'talk to her'? Is she dying?"

Lien took another bite and raised her mildly sunken eyes to the other painted face in the room. She swallowed greatly and began speaking again.

"In the Fire Nation they used to believe certain spirits would be angered if we tampered with the dead or dying. Mai is fighting for her life right now." Lien gave a wince Hamako recognized as pain. She shook her head at the look on her friend's face and continued. "Whoever shot her had some powerful poison—his very own mix. These assassin guilds have their own signature recipes for death—once one is cracked and cured, the guild ritualistically kills the failed assassin and adopts a new poison. They spared nothing in making sure Mai would die. It's probably the special mix of their best killer." Lien winced again. "I wouldn't be able to make a cure before it would kill Mai. This one isn't meant to kill fast—or even really painfully. I think it's supposed to drive her crazy in her own coma and kill her in a few days." Lien stopped again to breathe and take another bite.

"So what were you doing in there?" Hamako asked.

"I—" Lien started before doubling over and gasping. Hamako rushed to her side and put a hand on her friend's back. She felt spasms under Lien's skin arcing their way over her spine and back again. "—was trying to help her fight." She gasped again. Hamako restrained her urge to yell for a doctor.

"My family was always the weird one on Kyoshi Island, weren't we?" Lien laughed cynically in her coughs and struggled to sit upright again. "I was able to take certain aspects of the poison out of her. It attacks the body as well as the mind. Since I took some of it—" she coughed again, her entire body going into the effort—"it's sort of mutating. It's trying to hurt me for helping her, because whatever pacifiers the poison had are still with Mai. Lucky me." She breathed raggedly for a moment before continuing.

"Are you going to die?" Hamako felt herself shriek without registering the voice was hers.

"No—well, hopefuly not." Lien gave another great hacking cough that sounded like her body was trying to turn itself inside out. "That poison is supposed to only ever kill one, and that was to be Mai. I'll take the suffering, but the real danger of the poison is hers. If things go according to plan."

"So that's all we can do? Take Mai's hurt for her and let that arrogant Fire Nation noble girl just die in there because she couldn't stay out of the way of those darts?!" Hamako furiously scrubbed away the tears she could feel prickling and silently cursed the hollow lump stuck in her throat.

"No, Hamako. That's the beauty of it—" Lien told her with a broken smile. "I did more thank take the poison. I gave her what she needed too." Lien coughed more softly at Hamako's dumbstruck face.

"What did you give her?" the navigator asked in a hushed tone.

"Something worth fighting for," Lien answered before fainting delicately. "Something we've all got enough of to share."

* * *

Ty Lee entered the common room of the small coal-mining town's inn and searched the nearly empty room for the person who'd sent for her. A boy roughly her age waved to her from his table and she walked over. 

"You're the one who wanted to talk to me?" she asked, trying to sound bright.

"Yes. Please, have a seat. I'm Haru," he told her.

"Ty Lee," she responded.

* * *

Tinh unceremoniously dropped his writing case on a chair and flopped dejectedly onto the opposite couch. "That was a spectacular failure…" he muttered to the pillow concealing eighty-five percent of his face. His head was buzzing with snippets of what each of them had said, her facial expressions, mannerisms, anything. What he'd thought would have been a process of thought, dissecting situations, and deciphering hidden messages left him now stunned and unable to think straight past the fact that he'd failed and exactly how little he could think. 

He looked moodily at his notes and registered how little they would help him. His musings were rudely shocked by a knock at his door.

"What?" he half barked at the small anonymous servant girl who stood meekly at his door.

"Sir, Nobleman Tinh, sir—" she stammered. "Sir, General Iroh would speak with you later this evening. He said specifically any time you wished to some he was ready." She bowed perfectly, meekly, timidly, making Tinh regret his sharpness. He groaned inwardly at his attitude.

"Chile—what is your name?" he made himself ask as she began to retreat.

"Sir—Nobleman Tinh, yes sir?" she asked hesitantly, raising large eyes to him.

"What is your name?"

"Ursa, Nobleman Tinh, sir."

"Thank you Ursa, for delivering this message. Would you please tell General Iroh of my thanks and that I'll speak to him straightaway after supper?"

"Yes sir, of course Nobleman Tinh." The girl scurried off, leaving Tinh to himself.

* * *

"What did you find out today, dear child?" Azula smiled at the young girl before her. 

"Madam—Nobleman Tinh is susceptible to fooling. I made him feeling guilty for snapping at me. He asked me my name and I told him Ursa—"

"Slow down, child!" Azula laughed sweetly for her. Start at the beginning?" The child nodded and beamed in the lacking light.

"You finished with Tinh before I'd had enough time to finish checking everything—I wanted to take my time so I wouldn't make any mistakes. So I knew he would be coming back, and I kept checking. When I saw him coming around the corner of the hall his room is in I went into his washroom and opened the window. Then I thought to see how he acted when he was all alone so I watched him. He was really frustrated and only let it show when he was all alone. I went out through his window and got a really good idea. I went back to his door and told him Iroh wanted to talk to him later. He asked my name then 'cause he'd snapped at me and I think he pitied me. He told me to tell Iroh thanks for the invitation so I went and told Iroh Tinh wanted to talk to him after dinner. Iroh thought it was a good idea and said it was fine. Then I came back here to tell you everything.

It took all of Azula's self control to hide how shocked she was that the child could say on so very few breaths.

"Yes, Bian. Lovely. Be careful about those kinds of lies—the wrong people can hear things and make trouble if you're not making sure to use your words correctly. What did you find in Tinh's room?"

"Oh, mistress, you'll like this! In a pair of socks he had folded an envelope full of poems—and they're all about Mai. I memorized as many as I could since I couldn't take them or write them down. Do you want me to recite them to you?" the child asked, eyes widening at the thought.

"Maybe some other time," Azula said, averting her eyes and patting Bian on her shoulder. "Make some copies for me while he's talking with Iroh. Maybe get someone else who is loyal to me to help you keep watch?"

The child nodded enthusiastically and skipped off though the dungeons when Azula had dismissed her.

* * *

A/N: That's all for now! Next chapter is going to be Zuko writing his list only. That all right with you, Mai? 

Mai: So he's writing a list about his perfect woman while I'm in the Earth Kingdom dying?

Muse: We wanted a yes or a no, not your life story.

Me: Reviews make me write faster! (And Haru isn't a one time appearance because I am one of his few, strange, and rare fans)

To God be the glory.

ZFF


	15. Zuko's List

A/N: Thanks to the reviewers! (43 reviews at this point) You're wonderful! Sorry if Lien's speech in the last chapter was a bit… overly cryptic. I'll clear it up some later, you know, freaky assassin guilds and such like.

Muse: I'll make her write now.

Me: Enjoy! –begins–

Oh—and to clear up some apprehension mentioned in a review, I am NOT going to change it to Zutara. I don't want to just randomly make a bunch of good people angry for no reason other than to be annoying. The world already has enough people like that. –blech–

* * *

Zuko set his cup down and frowned at the paper in front of him. He inked his pen then began tapping it thoughtfully, staring at the clean sheet. Zuko tried clearing his mind and found it to be just as blank as the paper he meant to write on. 

"Come on now, it's not that hard…" he muttered to himself, lifting the pen. "What do I need?"

The first thing that came to mind was strength. Well, he was pretty sure it was first. The close second was a memory of Mai coming into his battle with Azula on the Day of Black Sun; her face's stoic mask broken in rage and unadulterated strength. He wrote the word on his paper and began to think of what he needed next.

Next, his wife would have to be someone the people would look to, someone they would trust and feel loyalty to. This time he remembered Mai standing with Azula, Ty Lee, and him when they came back from Ba Sing Se.

Next she would have to be intelligent. Zuko's mind now drifted to one of many times Mai had beaten him or several generals at Xiangqi when the game was used to stimulate strategy building. He barely stifled a laugh at times she'd calmly humiliated generals by convincing them they'd won and then claiming her decisive victory.

Zuko looked at his list, thinking.

1) Strength

2) Someone the people would be loyal to

3) Intelligence

It struck Zuko that he wasn't listing much more than what each noble had said his daughter was.

4) Must be able to fight

5) Honorable

Zuko grinned at how much this narrowed down and that he was actually having fun now. He thought for a moment longer before adding his next

6) Understanding—wants to fix how things are with the other nations.

He glanced around his clear desk and added his most immediate thoughts—

7) Values Uncle & his wisdom

8) Knows/Will quickly learn how to keep me sane

9) Knows how devious and cruel my sister is.

10) Beautiful

He stopped and considered his most recent item of the list. Certainly he wanted a beautiful wife, if he were to get married. And since the last Fire Lady, his own mother, was as beautiful as she was, the next Fire Lady would certainly have to be beautiful.

This time, the image he thought of was the young noblewoman Sakura. Certainly, she was beautiful: flawless features, attractive figure, captivating smile, current styles despite economic troubles…

_That's not even anything special, really…_ Zuko thought to himself. Sure, she was beautiful, but so were a lot of women. She was also like his sister—too perfect, scheming…. Definitely not what the Fire Nation needed.

He rounded that last train of thought and came to his next points:

11) Diplomacy

12) Honesty

Zuko grinned as he wrote his next point.

13) Going to be good mother

14) Morals

He paused with a smile on his face to drink some of the tea his uncle had sent, noting that it had gone cold. A brief glance out the window showed how much time he'd spent on his task. Zuko though back for inspiration on what to put next. Inadvertently he thought of Song, Jin, Mai and even Katara.

15) Wants to heal

16) Can be lighthearted in spite of the life I'm asking her to lead

17) Someone I can love

18) Someone who will forgive my past wrongs… and even forget the pain

With this he blew on the ink, folded the paper, and put it over his heart., rising from his seat to leave his study.

* * *

A/N: Only two reviews for the last chapter, so sorry this took so long and it might not bee too awesome. Please, if you review, feel free to suggest things for the list and I'll add them in. And please review—I hate to sound like this, but I know I have more than two readers and I really do value your comments. Thanks so much! 

And for those interested, I have basic comments and thoughts on the most recent episode on my profile. Shipping will be neutral, so feel free to message me and talk, conspire, argue, whatever.

To God be the glory.

ZFF


	16. Eye Opening

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, the term "OK" would never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever be used as a line in the show.

A/N: I am sooooo sorry you guys have to wait so long! You'd think I'd get the message after all the reviews saying you like it. I'm sorry! 34 days is too long a wait. Bad self.

And the first section goes kind of deeply into exactly how Mai feels (medically speaking), and I went for total accuracy here so it's kind of gross. You are forewarned.

Oh, and one small request? For those who've watched the other half of the season online early, please don't put any spoilers into reviews. For people (like several friends of mine) who want to wait till the end? This is said only because it's hard for me not to give spoilers myself. Thanks in advance!

* * *

Mai woke with a start, noticing the breath of a shout on her lips. Before her eyes had had a chance to focus on the room Mai had already torn off her covers and propped herself onto one elbow. Her head was half way between throbbing and outright crushing pain; her mouth was dry and her throat hoarse. Her vision was more blurry than usual, as though the room were filled with a dizzying steam. She could feel the sick cling of her loose, damp hair to her clammy, sweat salted skin. Through her impending nausea she could barely make out she was wearing a short green robe and loose brown pants of some cheap yet soft fabric. Mai lifted herself to a sitting position, hands over her mouth as her stomach rebelled. She was feverish and freezing at the same time, able only to ruthlessly stifle a moan. Her head swum, her skin felt like soaked parchment, her dexterous fingers were like overstuffed sausages as she reached for the rim of a metal can beside the bed, and her stomach had no other plans than to turn inside out. 

She pulled the can close and vomited the contents of her empty stomach.

* * *

"So why exactly did you call for me?" Ty Lee asked the boy who had introduced himself as Haru. 

"I want to help," he stated simply.

"With what?" the girl across from him asked.

Haru steeled himself, trying to organize his thoughts. "To be honest, you seemed to be having some troubles earlier when you were speaking to the town." Ty Lee grimaced nearly imperceptibly yet allowed him to continue. "You know about the town's history, of course."

"It was a coal mining town, invaded by the Fire Nation army who rounded up and sent away all the benders. They kept a tight watch on the town and enforced severe taxes. Eventually the Avatar, Katara, and Sokka finally came and broke the earthbenders out. The town has had some struggles with the army since, though they've stood strong. With the earthbenders back their coal mines have reached a new high in output."

"You sound like you're reciting a report."

"Some. The report focused a lot more on the coal output and market worth of the town," Ty Lee answered, looking down at her cup.

Haru looked off to one side and continued. "When Katara and the Avatar came and broke us out of that prison, they brought us new strength. And that strength wasn't so much directed towards our new future as getting rid of the Fire Nation. There's hardly a family here who wasn't touched by that oppression. People who turned those benders who were in hiding have been run out of town for supporting the troops, despite what more forgiving men like my father said." He looked up and met Ty Lee's eyes.

"I'm so sorry," she said sincerely. "I'm almost surprised they even allowed me here."

"The town is trying to follow what the elders are urging, that the war is over and it's time to leave these things in the past. That's the only reason why you're here—to prove that we aren't as bitter as we have the right to be. But you have to understand what an insult it is to us—after the heavy taxes, loved ones taken, not being able to trust your neighbors, the threats—" Haru paused. "Some of us were there fighting on the Day of Black Sun, my father and myself included. And then you come here and tell us that it's all going to be all right and that this new Fire Lord no one here knows or cares about wants to make things better? We can't just believe that because some pretty girl with a caravan of soldiers comes here to tell us that."

"What I said about Zuko is true," Ty Lee asserted boldly. "He wants nothing more than to rebuild the damage that his family took so long to create. He wants to end the suffering and pain because he's been there. Zuko has seen both sides of this war and he knows how much you are hurting and he wants to help and to fix and to heal all this damage!"

"What do you mean, 'he's seen both sides'?" Haru asked.

"Zuko spent a couple months as a refugee. He was running from his sister—and Mai and me too for that matter—and the whole Fire Nation because he and his uncle had been declared traitors. He traveled and ended up in Ba Sing Se in a tea shop, and worked his way up to serving tea to the Earth King. And that's where he teamed up with us again, but that's not the point."

"And that's what you need to tell us. We were raised to hate the Fire Nation. We don't need to know some Fire Lord wants to make us all feel better—we need to know he's going to do something about all of this. It's going to take more than an optimistic speech to break that ingrained bitterness." Haru stood, and Ty Lee followed. "I could probably set a meeting for you tomorrow night with the town elders, benders, and other influential people in the community so you can set things right."

"Thank you so much!" Ty Lee said, taking a step to hug him properly. "Is there any way I could thank you? You've done so much to help me." She released Haru and looked at him, waiting.

He hesitated. "Well… there is one thing," he said slowly.

* * *

Mai finally struggled to her unsteady feet, no small task considering it felt like she was walking on unbalanced stilts will over-greased wheels on the bottoms. She only managed not to fall more than once by clinging to a rail running around the walls of her room. Finally Mai reached the door, but such a complex system as a handle and latch was too much for her new lack of ability to use her fingers. Cursing every poison she could name, Mai resorted to weakly pounding on the door. 

To her still-foggy sense of time, it felt like ages had passed and she feebly slid to the floor, retaining only enough strength to lean against the wall next to the door. There, not quite prone yet not sitting of her own strength, Mai was fairly sure she then blacked out without a voice to call for help.

* * *

Zuko glared through the flames as the clerk droned on, going over the details of past meetings to be dealt with later. He knew that the nobles were paying just as little attention as he was. 

_Why should they be? They've got bigger issues than who's going to lose their jobs because the war's not employing them or what soil erosion is going to do the some citizens in farming communities._

He looked down at his uncle, the only general actually paying the underappreciated clerk any mind, smiling serenely. Iroh happened to glance up at Zuko's silhouette, grinned while raising a cup, and returned his attentions to the clerk.

_No, honored clerk, no one but Iroh is paying any attention to you until you say anything like "daughter," betrothal," or "Fire Lady." Agni forbid they care about real issues._

Zuko noticed that the men suddenly sat up straight and began unconsciously straightening themselves and looked expectantly at him.

_And now for every Fire Lord's _favorite_ job. Oh, how I _adore_ public speaking. I _just_ stinking _love_ it._

Zuko himself now straightened behind his flames, rolling his shoulders back and setting the angle of his chin on what he presumed was a "lordly" way.

"I, through great and wise council, have come to listen to reason on the fact that I must take a wife. It is both inevitable and beneficial that this country have one adept woman to look to for its future—"

_Blah blah blah, rehearsed speech blah blah blah, Iroh and I wrote this during breakfast, blah blah blah, fine woman, blah blah blah—_

"And in my two years' absence I am afraid that I have quite lost familiarity with any woman proper to be the Fire Lady. The only remedy I can see for this will be to meet individually with each of your daughters or nieces or other eligible female charges in order that I might have opportunity to find a suitable wife."

"But my Fire Lord," one wealthy noble asked, "how will you choose which women are suitable to entertain?"

"It would hardly be fair if I didn't meet with each of them at least once, if not several times," Zuko answered strategically, actually surprising himself with the fact that he hadn't thought of that particular point just yet.

_Several meetings… that certainly will buy me more time, especially if I only meet one girl for one meal on an appointed day and have two days between each meeting..._

"My Fire Lord—how will we arrange for meetings for our daughters and nieces?" an anonymous admiral asked.

"You will meet with me," General Iroh interjected, "and the clerk and scribe. We will discuss important matters pertaining to the meeting and arrange a date."

"Fire Lord Zuko—is this really necessary?" one man asked. Zuko recognized him as Miss Sakura's father, though couldn't remember his name. "Begging your most esteemed pardon, but it shows a lack of discretion to entertain any girl that the courtiers would put before you with apparent disregard for her family situation or history."

"Hmm. Interesting point. I was under the impressions that one, it was my choice whom I would marry and two, if she were a courtier she is certainly worth a simple meal and conversation, and that three, it would only be _fair_ not to discriminate upon family status considering my own less than fantastic history."

A heavy silence filled the room.

"Clerk, if you would be so good as to go over those reports of bandits in the northwest?" Zuko said, breaking the silence.

* * *

Mai was in a dream—one of those few obvious dreams that didn't break the very moment she realized she was dreaming. 

And the fact that she was looking down on herself and a large, pink, and maintly yet certainly glowing cat helped.

She could see herself in deep red and black next to the cat, barely walking faster than a comfortable stroll. Mai saw herself tense and followed the direction her eyes were pointed in. There was the Blue Dragon, circling closer and closer. The cat arched its back and the two stopped walking altogether.

Mai only half knew what would come next, though she couldn't shout to warn herself. She saw the Dragon strike; she threw the cat behind her, out of harm's way, bringing up several knives from nowhere. The dragon was barely a hairsbreadth away from her, voracious jaws open mockingly—

And out of the east came a burst of fire. The sun was slowly rising over the desolate, black landscape. Mai heard a familiar voice calling her name…

"_Mai… Mai… Mai!"

* * *

_

"So Zuko is planning to have meetings with any girl the nobles thrust at him in hopes of finding the right wife?" Sakura repeated skeptically to her informant.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Dear boy—I love him so though he lacks sense. And eyesight, apparently," Sakura joked to the two friends sitting behind her on each side. Neither of them laughed nor commented.

"Is there anything else?" the informant asked.

"No dear girl, not a thing. Just so long as Daddy makes sure I get an early meeting, everything's peach blossoms. How best to make sure of that though…" she mused.

"I might have some friends who could help with that, ma'am," the girl answered.

"Little Ursa, you are simply a wonder," Sakura commended, putting a manicured hand on the beaming child's shoulder.

* * *

"Zuko!" Mai gasped, reawakening. 

"No, Mai—it's me, Neko. You were sleeping. I came in to check on you and change your bandages, and you were on the floor next to the door. You finally woke up from your coma?" the warrior asked.

"So sick…" was all Mai could answer before losing her empty stomach on the plain apothecary's outfit Neko was wearing. Mai moaned apologetically, biting back tears that she couldn't reason.

"Hey, hey…" Neko soothed her, bringing over a can and ignoring the forming stain. "It's no problem." Neko continued to soothe her patient, reminding Mai of the attentive, motherly doctor that had tended her when she'd contracted scarlet fever when she was eight.

"I'm going to get you some food. It's just going to be some plain brown rice and vegetables, all right? You can eat some when you feel up to it. Right now you just need to rest. You're not well yet."

Mai didn't have the strength to argue and lapsed into unconsciousness before she could thank her nurse.

* * *

"Clerk, would you come here a moment, please? And the Scribe also?" Zuko called wearily down to the two servants after all but they and Zuko had gone. They came in a pair before him, indecipherable one from the other except for the ink stains on one's fingers and the minute uniform differences. 

"I'd like to thank each of you for your service to me," he began. "You have no idea how much it means that I am able to trust you both and your service."

The two remained silent.

"Please, take the next few days off. After all I've put you through, you deserve it. Check out with my uncle under my orders. I'd like you to have a few days' vacation in the city and my uncle will render your due payment. You will tell him exactly as I have told you?" Zuko finished.

"Of course, Fire Lord," they answered. Then they bowed and turned, their steps seeming equally more jovial than before.

* * *

A/N: Again, I'm sorry about how long this took. But I've gotten influential bits set in stone. Thank you all so much for your reviews, which really make me so happy (and guilty for making you wait so long). But if I can, I will _**try**_ to update again before Monday. 

Thanks again so much! The readers keep the story going!

To God be the glory.

ZFF


	17. Sweet Deception

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, Haru would NOT have that stupid mustache (which he has shaved off by the time of my fic because he realized it didn't look right).

A/N: Guess what time it is kiddies! It's time for the author to make brilliant excuses on why the chapter is so late!

-crickets- -drum roll-

Homework and deadlines and lack of sleep! (double drums and cymbals)

* * *

"So two of the three people I need to talk to so I can see Zuko are on… paid vacation?" Sakura vented as disrespectfully as she could manage in one statement. "Why in Agni's name would he do that? I mean, it's bad enough he's agreeing to see any fool girl lucky enough to get in with a courtier, but making it impossible to even see him for at least a week? That's insane!" 

"Perhaps it could be turned into a boon," the child in front of her replied calmly.

"Oh, and how do I turn the fact that I am unable to do anything to put myself at an advantage to be Zuko's wife into a boon?" Sakura asked disdainfully.

"There are people I know who would help you. They could get to the Clerk and Scribe while no one else can. And one person could do so much more for you," Ursa answered.

"And I am to trust a mere servant girl that she has such powerful contacts?" Sakura returned, rolling her perfect gold eyes.

A knock at the door sounded before Ursa had time to defend herself. Sakura pointed to it with commanding eyes and Ursa opened the door. It revealed a somewhat bewildered teenaged boy holding a note.

"I had orders that in one week just at this time to deliver this note, miss," he addressed Sakura.

"Then your task is done, so get back to whatever work you should be doing," she retorted. The boy left and she looked back at Ursa, who had opened the note.

"Don't open that! It's for me," Sakura said, snatching the paper.

"No it's not—my lady wrote it and signed it to be given to me," said Ursa, clasping her hands behind her back.

"That idiot boy delivered it to the wrong room—there's no one named 'Bian' here." The noble quickly read the note and stopped suddenly.

"This is a noble's calligraphy," Sakura stated.

"My Lady is a noble woman."

"How did she know so far in advance?" Sakura probed, reading the note again.

"My Lady always knows what is about to happen."

Sakura's thought process showed on her face.

"Well then, Bian, I simply must meet this Lady of yours," she said handing back the note.

* * *

"Well then, Kuzon, how did your mission go?" Azula asked, smiling. 

The teenaged boy in front of her merely scoffed. "The stupid girls had no idea. I did just what you said and told them I'd had the note for a week, acted all surprised that there were people there and everything. They ate it up like ember candy."

Azula sighed contentedly. "Allies like you just make my day. Now how about you go down to the city and see what the clerk and the scribe are up to on their little vacation? I will have two others meet you there. Obey the elder and follow the instructions you will receive when you meet them."

Kuzon bowed and left with a satisfied grin.

* * *

"Sure, Haru—anything at all I can do for you," Ty Lee assured him, still waiting for him to ask his favor. 

"Since the town's gotten back on its feet, I've really wanted to travel," he answered. "The only traveling I've done was to the Fire Nation for the Day of Black Sun. Considering the fact that you're already traveling as a Goodwill Ambassador—"

"You want to come with me?" Ty Lee interrupted enthusiastically. "Of course! Zuko would probably want something like this happening, to show how much we want things right. This is great!" She hugged Haru again and took a step back.

"I should probably go now. Thanks again for all your help!" She bounded off up the stairs, leaving Haru where he was.

"Yes, actually, that was what I was going to ask. Are you sure? I wouldn't want people thinking the wrong thing. Yes, I suppose the Fire Lord would encourage it. Well then that's settled. I guess I'll see you in the morning," Haru muttered to where Ty Lee had been standing as he left, adding in his side of the conversation. Though for some inexplicable reason he couldn't stop smiling.

* * *

Mai felt really good. It was a nice day—for the Earth Kingdom anyway. It was hot enough for a Fire Nation native like Mai to feel comfortable and the faces in the crowd around her seemed familiar. The only person who was missing was Zuko. They'd promised to meet here, exactly between their two homes. He couldn't have forgotten—it was their anniversary. He'd sent her a dozen red carnations that morning on the occasion. Mai knew he couldn't have the wrong place because they'd visited the spot—a small shrine to a love spirit—many times before. 

Mai waited for at least another half hour, the sun going from high noon to dusk in that amount of time. She knew he wasn't coming and resolved to find out why. She looked out in the crowd and saw several faces she knew now, like they were the only people in the crowd.

It was three girls, all about her age and slightly shorter. One was a simple yet pretty girl with apothecary's supplies and a red carnation. The second was a darker skinned girl with two braids, obviously Earth Kingdom, wearing green and carrying a tea service—with the same red carnation as the other girl. The third was Fire Nation, obviously noble, and very pretty. She held a golden flame hairpiece and a red carnation.

Mai looked down at her feet, seeing she's dropped her twelve carnations. They died and withered before her eyes, falling into a slate-blue shadow. Mai couldn't tell what she felt, if anything at all. Zuko had betrayed her and given her flowers to others—the apothecary girl he'd wanted her to give an ostrich horse to, Song; the Earth Kingdom girl Mai had met before returning to the Fire Nation with Zuko, Jin; and that deplorable girl Sakura who'd insulted Ty Lee…. Each prospect seemed to be getting darker and darker, deeper and more hopeless as night's shadows swallowed Mai.

_That's what he thinks of you..._ a smooth voice cooed. _You mean nothing more to him than any of them… just like he said in the letter he gave you on the Day of Black Sun… You… Are… __Nothing. _

Mai looked for the voice—it came from the blue shadow left by her dead carnations. It grew and twisted, writhing into some indigo ribbon, wrapping elegantly around Mai's legs, waist, arms, and neck.

"No…" Mai argued weakly. "Zuko loves me… He promised he did…"

_Zuko was a liar… Always lied to you…_

"**No!**" Mai whipped to the new voice, unable to see it. The sun was coming up; its light hurt Mai's eyes. She felt the ribbons' grip loosening and she knew it was burning. Mai broke the last strands and brought her arms up to shield her eyes.

"**Azula always lies,**" was all the voice, the sun, left her with.

"Zuko!" Mai gasped, bolting upright. She looked about the room, feeling nauseated at the effort again.

Neko came to her side with a cool, wet cloth.

"You really should stop shouting the Fire Lord's name every time you wake up," she advised. "Someone who doesn't already know you're sweet on him might hear."

Mai merely groaned in reply.

* * *

"I can't believe the Fire Lord _himself_ specifically commissioned a paid vacation for us," Yuan said to his brother as they stopped at a bench in front of a large round fountain. Mothers watched in laughter as their children played and fell in the water. Vendors sold small trinkets, scarves, spices, and snacks on the outskirts of the square. Yuan grinned broadly around as his brother reached over for a handful of fire flakes. 

"You act like you don't see him every day, Court Clerk," Ru answered.

"We're service then. He's recognizing us as real people, just the same as the nobles and all the people he's fought with—alongside." Yuan popped a few more flakes into his mouth as he watched a young girl and her older brother splashing at each other.

"He recognizes everyone as someone. He thanks the servants who bring him tea, just like his uncle." Ru answered as the young girl slipped on the fountain's tiles and fell. Her brother laughed and she scowled.

"Oh, come on little brother! Just sit back and think how nice it is to have the Royal Family's favor!" Yuan laughed as the girl grabbed her brother's pant-leg to pull herself up and ended up bringing him down.

"Fifteen minutes as an only child does not make you big brother to someone an inch and a half taller than you and years more mature," Ru retorted. "Besides—you do know why we're really having this vacation, right? And that lovely bonus General Iroh so generously bestowed from his own pocket?" Yuan looked at his brother with surprise that contrasted with its calm twin not four feet away. "Yes, his own money. I checked your balances that evening—very accurate by the way. Nice work." Ru now turned away from the rigorous in-pool splashing match the young siblings were having in the fountain, driving other patrons a bit further away to avoid getting too wet.

"Wait—you looked through those papers? You didn't have authorization!" To Yuan's surprise, his younger brother laughed.

"We're on vacation, brother—don't talk about authorization and papers! Do you want to know the un-work-related reason for our little holiday or not?"

"Yes," Yuan grudging admitted. "I do."

"It's quite obvious really," Ru said, stretching on their bench and following a young woman with his eyes as she rounded the fountain, coming toward his and his brother's bench.

"And?" Yuan prodded in an obviously impatient tone.

"The Fire Lord wants to put getting married off for as long as possible without upsetting standing with nobles, as any new Fire Lord would. For someone to get an interview with him on the matter of a marriage interview, they need to get through General Iroh, you, and me. By giving us a due vacation, he honors and dishonors his promise at the same time. So we get these days off, the Fire Lord gets time off, and Iroh has the patience to ward people off by telling them we're on vacation." Ru looked away from the girl back at his brother. Yuan grinned back.

"Anything to do a service for my country!" he breathed, stretching out to mirror his brother, taking in the scene lazily as the young woman began to call to the two energetic children as her siblings to come away from their game.

"And if serving the Fire Lord means catching a cold while retrieving that nice young lady's siblings from the fountain, that's simply how things must be," Ru said, standing and stretching, eyes trained on the same young lady who was calling to the two rambunctious children in the fountain. The two seemed to be making a day of ignoring her.

"Oh, _no,_ dear brother!" Yuan jumped up, slapping his twin on the back. "I wouldn't _dream_ of letting such an atrocious thing happen to you on vacation. I'll retrieve the nice young woman's siblings for her, while you can stay dry and assure her of my abilities." Both began to walk towards the fountain, identical mock grins plastered over their twin faces.

"Whoever gets the older boy gets to ask her out first," Ru stated through his semi-clenched smile.

"Deal, younger brother. Shake hands on the spot, then whoever gets him first—no fighting over a child, it wouldn't look right—and brings him over to said pretty eldest sister has the honor." The twins shook hands and in so doing abandoned all pretenses of cooperation, barreling past one another and jumping into the fountain, skidding to where the two children were.

Ru, through several magnificently clever maneuvers which set him front of his brother (by getting an arm in front of him while running and pushing Yuan in the wrong direction while they were initially sliding across the fountain's smooth tiles) was able to first reach the teenaged boy in a brilliant skidding tackle which he was quite sure both the boy's sisters saw. Once his momentum was gone, he hauled the boy up by his collar and started walking him through the fountain towards his sister, who seemed unable of making any sound other than laughter.

"I believe this is yours, Miss," Ru said presenting the boy as his brother came in second with the laughing younger sister.

"Kuzon, Ursa, come out of the water! You're drenched to the bone!" the girl laughed, motioning for her siblings. "I'm so sorry, I had no idea they were such a disturbance to you!" she giggled heartily. Ru cast a victorious glance at his brother who returned it with as much gusto.

"On such a face as yours, miss, your regret is quite as pretty as your laughter," Yuan told her without a glance to his twin. The girl, helping to draw her soaked siblings from the fountain, could do nothing to suppress her mirth.

"And might we poor soaked Palace staff ask your name, Miss?" Ru asked.

"Oh! Of course! I'm Kyeko, and these are my beloved—and deplorably wet—younger siblings Kuzon and Ursa."

"I am Yuan, personal clerk to the Fire Lord, and this is my younger brother Ru—"

"Chief court scribe," Ru interrupted.

"Oh my! What a pleasure to meet you!" Kyeko exclaimed. "Well, in light of your daring rescue of my little brother, I simply must ask you to tea. A friend of mine owns a lovely shop just two streets over from here. Gray tile roof and red chimes in front—you can't miss it."

"Of course," the twins replied in unison. Kyeko giggled.

"Then it's settles it—both of you are invited. Say, about four after noon?"

"Right," the two answered again. Kyeko gripped her siblings and walked doff with them, lightheartedly scolding the two for being so wet.

"She asked us out, so I still keep my prize," Ru said to his brother, still watching Kyeko. "You can't ask her out until I have."

"Over our mother's over obsessive recipe secrets and other related paranoia," Yuan replied, partly a threat, partly a joke, and partly serious in the most detached way.

* * *

"Neko—wait," Mai rasped after the warrior turned nurse. 

"Wow you need some tea, Mai. With so much honey it could kill a butter-wasp."

"I need to talk to the Warriors. It's important. Very important…" Mai coughed lightly yet grimaced for it and Neko nodded.

"I'll have them right in."

* * *

A/N: I know, really heavy on the OCs in this one. But I liked developing Ru and Yuan. It was fun. 

Anywho, sorry you had to wait, but I'm getting better, right?

Tinh: What about me? Am I not being noticeably neglected?

Me: Um... Yeah... About that... -shrug- you'll come up later. And now for a shameless advertising plug:

Coming soon, _Zuko's Twelve Days of Christmas_: Zuko gets twelve days of gifts from an outrageously exaggerated fangirl. Each installment (one a day) has a verse for the song (reformatted to fit the theme) and a mini-chapter on the matter. Shipping is by no means serious and ZOC.

To God be the glory.

ZFF


	18. Just Breathe

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, I would try to be surer that unauthorized, annoying, and fake spoilers would be crushed with and iron fist (courtesy of Toph).

* * *

Mai let the breath she'd been holding out and looked at the Warriors assembled about her sickbed. Hamako looked skeptical yet concerned—Mai reasoned that if she'd had an older sister, that's the sort expression her sister would wear. Lien looked like she'd been in a contest of eating bad shellfish, yet other than that she was fine. Isamu was curious and only after Neko's demand that she stop asking if Mai wanted anything had Isamu decided to hold her tongue and wait. Mizu simply waited with folded arms at the foot of Mai's bed as though Mai merely needed to speak on general business. Mai inwardly thanked her for it.

Mai steeled herself, forcing her eyes to Mizu's, she spoke without wavering:

"I need to go back to the Fire Nation."

Neither Mizu's expression nor her posture changed. Lien raised an eyebrow while Hamako looked on with some annoyed confusion. Isamu had barely gotten a breath of argument out before she caught Neko's sharp glare at the sound.

"I know who sent the assassins. I know why. You're not safe while you're with me, and no one I love in the Fire Nation is either if I don't go back _now_."

"You can't stand straight," Hamako stated without hesitation.

"You're not recovered from the poison," Lien commented lightly.

Mai found she was unable to argue with their truth.

"I'll give her someone to lean on," Neko said, breaking the silence. All of the Warriors but Mizu took that opportunity to stare at their comrade.

"What about Suki?" asked Isamu, barely above a whisper.

"There are bigger things at stake right now," Mizu answered, finally breaking her stony mask and rigid stance. "Lien, Isamu—you're going back to Kyoshi Island. Tell Keiko to go ahead and get married. Hamako, Neko—we're going with Mai to the Fire Nation." Mizu began to pace at the foot of Mai's bed. "Lien, take this down:

"There's a substantial town not far from here. We'll take our ostrich horses there and trade them for something faster. The Fire Lord can pay the difference. We'll be able to charter a fast ship when we reach the shore, minimal crew. Doctor for Mai, Hamako can navigate, but we'll need a crew of at least seven besides. Fire Nation's paying for that too. I'd say half a day's hard riding to the city, rest for the remainder of that day, set out in the morning. Five days travel from there to the next big port town if we're more than a little lucky. From there we'll take what we can get and reach the Fire Nation in six days sea travel. Army escort from there to the capital, maybe three days. Sounds like half a month before we'll be able to get you to the Fire Nation. Do you have everything Lien?"

"Yes."

Mizu nodded thoughtfully. "How's that Mai?"

Mai grimaced as she answered. "That will take too long. There are too many things that can go wrong. The person who sent the assassins would already have plans for if I came back, much less with an army escort."

"What else can we do?" Hamako snapped.

"I think I know someone," Isamu interjected, looking at her feet.

* * *

"You may begin," Azula said, carefully picking up the eggshell porcelain teacup a follower had smuggled her and breathing in the fragrant peppermint scent.

"I did as you said, and went straight to the city to find the people you'd spoken of," Kuzon started.

"I began to instruct him in your plan as soon as we were acquainted," Kyeko interrupted. "We did as you said and found the clerk and the scribe. They were walking openly through the city, rather aimlessly at first."

"Then I consulted with a follower of yours in the city who happened to know some things about them," Ursa reported. "He predicted they'd head to a large fountain in the outskirts of the residential district. He provided us with a map outlined with the route they would most likely take."

"Kyeko wanted to follow them a bit more, but I said it would be best if Ursa and I were at the fountain before the twins got there—so it wouldn't look like we were following, and so it wouldn't look strange when Kyeko joined us later," Kuzon added.

"It was a plausible plan each of us contributed to," Kyeko said. "Kuzon and Ursa would pretend to be siblings cooling off in the fountain with the many other children. I would follow the twins from alleys and shops to make sure we didn't lose them."

Ursa cleared her throat. "The twins arrived. Kuzon wanted to go to the fountain's edge near them to see if we could eavesdrop. I told him those were suspicious actions for small children to be doing. He splashed me, I splashed back. Since it looked normal, we kept this up for a bit longer, going as near to them as slowly as we could so we wouldn't give our mission away."

"Did anyone hear their conversation?" Azula asked, lowering her cup a bit to breathe a layer of heat off.

"Yes," Kyeko answered. "An old man was sweeping the square, and listened in when one twin talked about being the royal family's good graces. He is neither loyal to you, or so devoutly loyal to your brother. The same follower of yours who gave us the map was able to procure the information from us. We have a written statement on that."

"Very well, you may continue," Azula granted, raising her cup to her lips.

Ursa began again: "Kuzon wanted to get closer than was prudent—"

"—Closer than she deemed prudent, and she grabbed my arm. ordinary children wouldn't just go grabbing others' arms while they were playing in a fountain, so I pushed her."

"And Ursa pulled him down with her," Kyeko stated in a cynical tone. "I gave a pigeon-mouse call—"

"Pigeon-mouse-being-mauled-by-a-cat call," Kuzon corrected.

"Which was the signal that we were breaking cover," Ursa finished. "Kuzon and I began splashing and laughing again and got back on course of our plan."

"It worked out for the better, though, because now the twins were half-watching us," Kuzon donated. "They were focused on their conversation, but we were the next most interesting thing."

"The next part of the plan was for me to come calling them out of the water as their sister," Kyeko stated. "Ursa and Kuzon ignored me, as the plan dictated, and both the twins stood. They walked, then ran, then jumped into the fountain and slid to where Ursa and Kuzon were. Ru, the scribe and the younger, presented Kuzon to me as some token. I arranged for a meeting in—" Kyeko paused, as though calculating in her head, "—two hours. I am to meet them at a tea shop belonging to one of your followers. He dried Ursa and Kuzon off and we came to you as soon as we were able."

Azula nodded, the only sound was he even, thoughtful breathing. "Very well. Look smart for your date." The three bowed at the apparent dismissal and began to disperse.

"One more thing—" Azula called to their backs. "Don't let me hear such cutting remarks about those you work with again. Value your allies more than position." The three bowed again.

"That is all," Azula said, dismissing them finally.

* * *

"You know a faster way?" Mai asked, somewhat perplexed. Isamu nodded.

"A shirshu. They're the fastest thing you could get for this situation. Give it a scent to follow that will lead you where you want to go and you'll be there faster than any ostrich horse and with more stamina than a mongoose-dragon over long distances." The group was silent for a moment. "But they're rare," Isamu noted. "Really hard to find. There are hardly any left in the wild in places we know, though they're popular with bounty hunters and mercenaries. We'd need a trained one, and an experienced one at that. I'd say a bounty hunter's shirshu. It could triple your rate if it can rest at night and rest on the ship. But where we could contract one, much less one we could contract so that we could get to the Fire Nation within half a month, is beyond me."

"And depending on who the bounty hunter is, we can get faster ships," Lien added, standing. "That is, if we don't much mind exactly whose fast ship we're getting."

"Where are you going?" inquired Hamako.

Lien grinned as strongly as her weak visage would allow. "To send a messenger hawk for a few of those shady family connections I've got. I can have a shirshu and a bounty hunter here in three days tops, depending on how much gold I can promise."

"Price won't be an object to Zuko if it's for this," Neko offered, looking to Mai.

"You never say that with this bounty hunter," Lien said as she headed out the door.

O - O - O - O - O

"Isamu—are you all right?" Mizu asked, following her youngest comrade as the group dispersed.

The girl turned, her eyes shining. "How could you?" Isamu's word dripped with pain. "How could you just… just _say_ all those things? Just start making plans—Suki is rotting in some iron coffin in a lake and you don't care enough to think for five minutes before planning a trip in the opposite direction? She was our _sister. She_ led us. Her mother taught us how to use fans and swords and everything else—and you'll just leave her so we can chase something we have no proof on? Don't you care about Suki?" Isamu could barely speak between her sobs. "You didn't even think about whose side you were on! Hamako and Lien at least tried to keep Mai from doing it!"

"Isamu—" Hamako said taking a step forward. The younger girl roughly wiped away her tears, smearing the white and red paint to the same shade of pink her cheeks were.

"I miss her too, Isamu."

"Then why didn't you do anything? You're our leader and you didn't **do** anything!"

"I did what I had to!" Mizu could feel long-withheld sobs rebelling from the corner of her stomach where she'd locked them. "Suki was my sister too! But more people are going to die if I didn't do something!"

"So what now? I just go back to Kyoshi Island and watch Keiko get married and pretend everything's fine?" Isamu bawled.

"No!" Mizu shouted. "You do what Suki would do! You do what's right, even though it hurts, and even your best friends might hate you for it!"

Isamu no longer stopped her tears. "Why couldn't we do anything to help her? Why can't we every do anything to help?" Mizu could tell she wasn't just talking about Suki, but Mai too and maybe Keiko.

"It was impossible to stop those things," Mizu said, taking Isamu into her arms. "Just breathe… shh, shhh… just breathe..."

"Why does it have to hurt so much?" Isamu asked in a thick, barely audible whisper.

"I don't know, Isamu," Mizu answered, watching as her own tears washed her paint away into Isamu's hair, listened to the slowing of her erratic gasps into even, tired breaths. "I just don't know."

* * *

Tinh looked wearily at his completed work. He'd spent the past week since his encounter with Azula rounding up information on Mai's escort of guards. Through his sleepless nights, hours of study, and several well placed messenger hawks, he'd gathered all Zuko could possibly want on the men he'd assigned to stay with Mai. Each had an exemplary record. War recognitions, though nothing more notable than a commendation for a wound sustained.

The only thing that had even raised an eyebrow was a story he'd gleaned that once when one guard was drunk after celebrating the fall of Ba Sing Se, he'd sworn he'd marry Princess Azula. In his state he'd also formulated a plan that involved kidnapping, copious amounts of luck, and princess much less likely to kill him for his efforts.

Tinh had marked his as someone of note, though unlikely to be any threat.

Mai's cousin stood and stretched, a process which resulted in a multitude of popping sounds, the likes of which he hadn't heard since the last time Imperial Tax Collectors had doubted his step-father's fidelity in book-keeping and he'd spent two weeks with an auditor going over ever silver that had changed hands in the family for the past forty-five years.

Tinh spied the hour and reasoned that it would be logical for the Fire Lord to be in his study at the time, deep into dusk, yet not quite evening.

He marched to the Fire Lord's study, glad for the opportunity to do more moving than he'd done in the last week. Outside the mahogany door he took a moment to breathe—to collect his thoughts, compose himself and clear the leftover grogginess from his thoughts. Tinh knocked on the door and heard himself bade enter.

"Fire Lord Zuko—I have the dossiers on the guards assigned to Mai."

Zuko looked blankly at Tinh for a moment, as though attempting to remember Tinh's purpose.

"Oh! Of course. Thank you." Tinh placed the papers on Zuko's desk, fighting off a sense of anti-climax. "Could you just stay a moment? I need to see that I understand everything."

"Of course," Tinh answered in a monotone. Zuko flipped through each report, finally coming to Tinh's transcription of his own scribbled notes from his encounter with Azula.

"Where's the clerk's seal? He always seals he work, especially on vital documents." Tinh bit the inside of his cheek, carefully considering his answer.

"The clerk was not present," Tinh answered evenly.

"What do you mean, 'not present'? He knew he had to be there, and so did you." Zuko seemed almost too disbelieving of the situation to think of it as anything but a jest.

"He had apparently fallen quite ill due to improperly cooked food and I was forced to proceed without him," Tinh answered, the strength in his speech building.

"My specific instructions were that you could meet with Azula if—and **only** if—the clerk was with you to record every word, gesture, and breath." Zuko rising temper was quite apparent to Tinh. Though, one sparkling truth freed him of that fact: Tinh didn't care.

"Yes, but if you would look past your instructions for a moment to—"

"I did not ask you to evaluate the intentions of my instructions!" Zuko snapped. "Your purpose for meeting with Azula was to interrogate her for information that could help Mai. Ignoring the fact that that idea was famously stupid in and of itself—"

"Hold on just a minute!"

"—and how these blunt questions were completely useless—"

"What have you done for Mai that hasn't been completely useless?" Tinh interrupted. "You are so wrapped up in paranoia about your sister who is locked in a cell that you can't look past one minute detail to the mountain of work that has been done to keep her safe! Yes, I talked to Azula without an escort. Yes, it did prove nearly meaningless to the rest of the investigation. But while I spent time agonizing over mininiscule details you asked for, you were practicing bending and fighting off hordes of gorgeous women and their families."

Zuko breathed for a moment before he began speaking again, slowly and evenly. "Why did you go to see Azula when you knew you would be directly contradicting my orders and permission?"

Tinh took a moment to breathe and think. "If she somehow had had some involvement in the clerk's 'incapacitation,' I did not want to seem weak or indecisive, even if it meant contradicting your orders to reach my goal."

"And what goal is that, Tinh? What is worth risking treason accusations?" Zuko asked, meeting Tinh's eyes.

"My goal? My goal is to do anything and everything in my power to keep Mai from getting hurt." They stared at each other for a moment. "I love Mai too much to have any other goal."

Zuko looked at Tinh over his folded hands for a moment before replying. He answered after a very deep, controlled breath.

"Then considering how much we both love her, and how much each of us would do to keep her safe, there shouldn't be much reasoning to argue," he said finally, as though he didn't want to say the words. "You are dismissed." Tinh, since he was already standing, merely looked at Zuko for a breath before turning to the door.

"Fire Lord Zuko?" Tinh asked with one hand on the handle, a cautious tone in his voice. "Does this mean that in further research I might talk with Azula without being accused of treasonous actions?"

Zuko visibly bit his tongue, his eyes unreadable. "I'll have to think about that," he answered, his voice sounding a final dismissal.

Tinh left with an even gait and squared shoulders.

* * *

A/N: I have noticed what seems to be a definite decline in interest for this story. I really don't have the time to try and give updates often, especially if people don't care. Considering the fact that I personally respond to every review, alert, and favorite notice, I don't see a reason for you as readers to think I don't care about your comments. Though, if you really don't care, it's just as well that you don't review. So please, for the sake of time I could be wasting, either PM me or leave a review.

And please note that I am not posting this author's note for ego's sake (if you have a problem with my ego, feel free to take me down a few notches, I really don't mind being a bit more humble). I just seem to have gotten more reviews earlier, and considering more people have alerted and whatnot since then, it seems more logical that I'd get more reviews per chapter now than then.

Anyway, have a nice day.

In Christ,

ZFF


	19. Depth of an Allegiance

Disclaimer: I still don't own Avatar. Go figure.

A/N: Sorry for the mini unofficial hiatus. I didn't mean to… And thanks for all the reviews. Happy New Year! (And I have been working diligently on this chapter. I was recently ill, which certainly put a damper on the pace of things…)

* * *

"You can't be serious," Sakura stated in distaste as she realized where Ursa's secret tunnels had led. "Ursa! You stop and listen to me!" The child paid no heed to Sakura other than a wave of her small hand to indicate Sakura should follow. The noblewoman let out an affronted growl and kept after the servant girl. "I tell you, I want nothing to do with someone in the dungeons!" To Sakura's surprise, Ursa stopped dead and turned. 

"Never make the mistake of insulting my Lady," the child said with gravity beyond her years. Sakura stood in the middle of the winding corridor, shocked. "My Lady is gracious, and unjustly imprisoned. She is not deserving of her mean estate." Sakura then seemed to remember her pride and squared her shoulders, bringing herself back to full stature and noble stance. Though it didn't help that she'd chosen to do so under a near-constant drip. Saukra ignored this, walking forward to Ursa.

"Remember your station, child. I still have more power than you do." Ursa replied to Sakura's glare with a smile that spoke of knowing something that the noblewoman didn't. Sakura shook this off and pointed vaguely down the hallway. Ursa took the command and began leading again.

"Who is this lady, anyway?" Sakura asked to relieve the repressive silence of the dank brick walls and walkway.

"It is best that my lady herself tell you," Ursa replied, taking another turn.

Sakura frowned. "And for what crime was she imprisoned?"

This time Ursa looked back before replying. "High treason." Sakura stopped mid-step.

"I'm going to meet a traitor? But treason is a banishing offence, not imprisonment." Sakura began walking backwards, slow comprehension dawning on her face. "If someone sees me…"

"No one will see you who does not obey my Lady," Ursa said, turning and putting a hand out. "You are in no danger."

"No danger!" Sakura half shrieked, somehow managing sarcasm. "I'm in the dungeons about to meet a convicted traitor, surrounded by guards who are traitors! If I tell Zuko, I'll die, and if I don't, I'm guilty of treason! Oh, Agni…" Sakura slumped against a wall to keep from falling. She was hyperventilating and could feel the walls closing in.

Ursa donated a comforting hand which Sakura did not turn away. Sakura began weakly crying, her breathing calming to almost regular with frequent gulps and stifled sobs.

"It's not as bad as you think," Ursa said. "My lady was wrongfully convicted by many who hated her. She is no criminal. The guards here loyal to her are no traitors—they follow a just cause."

Sakura gasped for breath and mildly composed herself before speaking. "But if the Fire Lord hears…"

"My Lady has chosen you—she will protect you from those who would harm you for meeting her," Ursa said, standing again. "Come—we must see her soon." Sakura numbly stood.

"How do I know I can trust her?" she asked before moving to follow. Ursa turned, years which she couldn't have lived shining in her large, no longer childlike eyes.

"Have faith in her."

* * *

Mai threw a handful of tempered steel daggers at the paper, straw, and bamboo target she'd been provided with. Two hit true, the third nicked the side deeply but passed through. 

"Why is the target wrapped in paper?" Isamu asked from the fence she was sitting on, peeling an orange.

"Paper is skin, straw is muscle, and bamboo is bone," Mai answered, walking forward to collect her weapons. "Has Ty Lee replied to the messenger hawk we sent?" Isamu shook her head. Mai plucked the two set knives and began scanning the ground for her third.

"Not yet, but Hamako predicts it should be back today, if she has replied," Isamu answered, dropping a seep into the pile of orange peelings next to her. "Hey, Mai?" Mai looked to the warrior. "Why hasn't Zuko already dealt with his sister? I mean, if she's a crazy and vicious and opportunistic as everyone says, why is he giving Azula the chance to do all she's capable of?"

Mai finally found her third blade, picked it up, and looked at the weapon pensively. "Zuko has been around her for almost all his life. He knows how dangerous she is, but… it's possible that even with all his experience, he's still underestimating her."

"So…" Isamu continued, "Why hasn't he had her taken care of? I mean, the Fire Nation does a lot with honor and banishing, and what Azula's done is banishing stuff, but the Fire Lord has gone with the road that we all prefer and decided to have her executed. Eventually. So why wasn't it his first act as Fire Lord? Or before even, when she was still all venomed up from your arrow dart things?"

Mai cast a severe yet emotionless look at Isamu. "Zuko doesn't want a bloodstained reign. Azula is too dangerous to let live, but Zuko doesn't want to kill. Not even Azula." Mai looked at her feet, remembering the look on Azula's face as she killed Suki.

"Well, as a monarch, and her brother, it seems like a stupid decision," Isamu said, dropping another seed.

"Don't talk about Zuko like that!" Mai burst out. In a more rational state of mind (which she recovered a mere five minutes after the encounter), Mai would have wondered what about Isamu's blunt speech rubbed her the same way that her friends' had on Ember Island. She may have even recognized that same tone of voice. But at that moment in time the only thing occupying her mind was defending Zuko's name in front of a simple Earth Kingdom girl who couldn't know what she was talking about.

"Zuko has done more for more for the Fire Nation and the whole world than anyone ever thinks about! All people do is just look at him and wonder why it's hard for him to do something as heartless as killing his own sister. Do you know why he won't kill Azula? Why he's waited long enough for her to get a foothold against him? Because Zuko isn't going to rule like his father. He isn't going to kill someone just because she's a potential danger in ways he couldn't possibly predict!" Isamu stared at the Fire Nation noblewoman.

"Mai… You've taken a fighting stance," Isamu told her, setting down the remaining half of her orange. Isamu hopped off the fence and faced Mai. Mai looked at her own feet and gained a slow realization of her stance. She relaxed it, realizing for the first time how hard she'd been gripping the third throwing knife.

"Well…" Isamu said, breaking the uneasy silence. "We kind of knew you had to love someone back there. At least he's worth it." Isamu gathered her orange and walked off.

Mai suppressed the urge to hit her head against something none too cushy.

* * *

"Thank you so much for this meeting!" Ty Lee told the town elder whose hands she gripped tightly. "It really means a lot." The elder smiled and nodded, politely trying to extract his hands from Ty Lee's unexpectedly strong handshake. 

Haru sat next to his father, a few seats over from where Ty Lee was making end salutations to the small mining town's few dignitaries and other influential members.

"What do you think?" Haru asked as Ty Lee moved on to shake a coal merchant's meaty hand.

"Well," Tyro answered, thoughtfully stroking his beard, "I wouldn't say she's cut out for politics. She's certainly good with people, though."

"Not just about that," Haru reminded him. "What about my traveling?" Tyro looked back at his son, who seemed lightly distracted by Ty Lee's laugh at some joke the merchant had shared with her.

"I think that your mother isn't quite ready for you to leave, but traveling should be good for you," his father replied. Ty Lee then came to Haru and his father, beaming.

"Thank you both so much," she said, hugging Tyro and Haru in turn. "My aura hasn't been so pink since I've arrived!"

"We'll take your word for it," Tyro said, a good-natured chuckle in his voice. "Could my family entertain you for lunch?"

"Oh, that sounds great!" Ty Lee replied. "I'd just like to find my cat first."

"Bring her if you like," Haru said. "Mother is good with animals, and I think she's making duck-turkey."

"That sounds—"

Haru never found out how Ty Lee thought his proposition sounded, for at that moment the town hall door burst open for a runner bearing a message, calling for Ambassador Ty Lee.

"Ma'am, an urgent messenger hawk for you, from Mai of the Shan Tsai family—" the runner said before panting. Ty Lee's face lit up as she accepted the letter, yet fell as she read it.

_Ty Lee—_

_This is urgent—we need to go back to the Fire Nation. Zuko is in trouble and Azula sent assassins after me. As soon as you get this, pack up only what you need and head for the next fast ship going to the Fire Nation. And bring your cat. I can't explain right now, __but she helped me survive __a coma __(spirit guide or something). I know she's probably very weak now, __but it's vital that you bring that cat. I'll be at port in four days at the most. Hurry, Ty Lee._

_—Mai of the Shan Tsai Family_

"Ty Lee?" Haru asked, seeing her face. She turned to him, her face set in a way he'd never seen before—focused and determined… unstoppable.

"I'm not going to be able to make lunch," she said, handing him the note. "And I need your help once you've finished reading that." Ty Lee ran up the stairs to her room and Haru skimmed the note.

"Get Mom to pack some food," Haru said to his father before following Ty Lee. He guessed where her room was by the sound of commotion and found her throwing articles of pink clothing into a small bag.

"Haru, I need you to tell me where in this town a very spirit-attuned cat with an incredible aura capable of projecting itself over hundreds of miles would go if she were about to die," she said, grabbing a sheaf of letters and hurriedly sorting them into two messy piles. "Hurry, Haru, I don't have time to waste."

"Um… A cliff, outside my family's land, overlooking a valley," he stammered. "What does Mai mean?" he asked, finally gathering his thoughts as Ty Lee tossed aside juggling balls for catnip.

"She means—oh where is that?—that Azula is—ouch!—doing what she does best, and that is—stupid paper cuts—manipulating and making Zuko think she's not as dangerous as she is. Aha!" Ty Lee threw her bag over her shoulder and clutched another in her hands. "Now show me that cliff."

The two ran down the stairs and Ty Lee led Haru behind the inn, deftly saddling a mongoose dragon. Haru grabbed an ostrich-horse, throwing a saddle on its blanketed back.

"Where?" Ty Lee asked, following Haru out of the stable. Haru directed her towards the cliff he'd mentioned, leading in the ostrich-horse. At the rate they were going, they were able to see the cliff in less than ten minutes. What drew Ty Lee's attention was an oddly shaped darkish lump on the summit of the cliff. She pulled ahead of Haru, dismounting about five yards from the summit. She walked up, slowly at first, then faster, eventually falling on her knees in front of the lump.

"Hua? Akamai Huong?" she whispered, scared to touch the animal. It was her cat, sure enough—no other animal had those markings—but Ty Lee had trouble believing it was _her_ cat there, that it was _her_ cat, possibly not breathing. Ty Lee reached out and touched her cat. Akamai Huong still had her soft, thin fur and firm muscles. Ty Lee couldn't feel any breaks, and… just barely… _breathing_. "Oh, Hua—what did you do to yourself? What happened to Mai?" she crooned, picking the animal up and cuddling it to her chest. She suddenly became aware of Haru standing behind her.

"Is she…?" he said, stepping closer.

"Yes," Ty Lee answered. "I mean, yes, she's breathing. She's got a strong spirit—she'll get better by the time we're back in the Fire Nation." Ty Lee gave Haru a weak smile and stood, still cradling the amazing feline. "Thank you, Haru. She's really weak, and I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't brought me here." Haru simply smiled and nodded, stepping aside so Ty Lee could reach her mongoose dragon and set her cat within the second bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

"My mother has put some food together for the journey," Haru said, pointing to his house on the crest of the next hill. "We can't leave without our supplies."

"'We'?" Ty Lee asked, one hand in her bag petting the weakened cat.

"I held up my end of the bargain," Haru reminded her, gesturing to his family's humble cottage. "I'm traveling with you."

Ty Lee smiled and felt something welling up in her eyes. "Thank you, Haru. But we'll need to go back to town. I need to tell Mai where I am, and we need another mongoose-dragon. Your ostrich-horse is too slow," she said, walking beside him towards the smell of bread and meat cooking.

"That's not my ostrich horse. That belongs to the merchant who was joking with you," Haru told Ty Lee, looking at her. She laughed, and Haru followed suit.

* * *

"I've heard some things about you," Mai said, looking the bounty hunter up and down. "Few of them were very promising except for your skill as a tracker." 

"You just haven't been talking to the right people," June told her. "And how hard could tracking down the Fire Nation be?"

"Hard enough to be worth the money we're paying if you can do it in under a week," Lien said. "How's your father?"

"Father's fine, though I haven't seen him in a while. He and mother aren't exactly on speaking terms, and I hardly see either of them these days because of jobs. And your mother's well?"

"Yes, she's fine. She still hasn't forgotten about the money your father owes her."

"And he still denies that he owes a copper. When will you be ready to go?" June asked, turning to Mai.

"Soon enough. Just a few more things to check before we head out. We should be leaving in an hour at the most," Mai answered. June nodded.

"I'll be in town getting food for Shirshu. We won't have time for it to hunt while traveling," June said, taking a small leather pouch from the animal's saddle. "I guess Zuko's paying for that in the end, right?"

"Sounds likely," Lien answered. "Isamu will help you carry." The youngest warrior stepped up at June's shrug while Mai walked off in search of Mizu, Hamako, and Neko.

"These lines marked in brown are doldrums this time of year, but here, a few leagues north, we can expect heavy winds out of the east. Though there are storms brewing in the best winds, so we'll want to skirt that path as much as possible," Mai could hear Hamako saying. She rounded the back of the building and could see the navigator and Mizu, both in their Kyoshi warrior's paint over a table-sized map of the waters between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom.

"But if we can get a Fire Nation war ship—I'm sure Mai could commandeer one—wouldn't that be faster? The doldrums are the most direct route and we wouldn't have to deal with storms. I've heard how fast the army's ships are—we might be able to shave a day and a half off," Mizu argued, measuring the distance with her compass.

"That's allowing we can commandeer the crew too, and I'd like to avoid as many variables as possible," Hamako replied, scratching as few equations off the edge of the map.

"After Ba Sing Se, we were able to travel back to the Fire Nation in three days," Mai said, walking into the room. "We weren't wasting time, but the ship wasn't on full steam."

"But," Hamako said, arguments ringing in her tone, "Gathering the needed supplies—coal and food and money, even early release papers if we take an army vessel—won't be easy or fast. If there are Fire Nation ships in the area, they're not there on vacation."

Mai looked at the map. "The messenger hawk made it to Ty Lee, somewhere around the coast here—" Mai said, drawing a circle with a compass around three towns, "in about a day and a half, by your estimate. That means one should be able to make it to my father in Omashu in about the same amount of time. He isn't governor there anymore, but Zuko hasn't stripped him of authority in the government, so if I can get a hawk to Father, he can notify an army vessel and get it ready." Hamako and Mizu stared at Mai. "I was in some of Azula's classes on this kind of thing at the Academy."

"You are some kind of incredible," Mizu said, straightening from her hunched position. "Now we just see if things work as well in practice as they do in theory."

* * *

Tinh pushed the pile of papers away from him in disgust. He trained his eyes on the horizon out his window, watching the sinking half of the sun still visible. He'd been working nonstop since lunch on investigations and background checks. Tinh had hardly made any headway and felt incredibly demeaned by the busywork. 

_All this busywork Zuko gave me…_ was all he could think. Well, not all; two girls would occupy his thoughts often—one off in the Earth Kingdom on a mission for her _adored_ Fire Lord, the other merely a few hundred feet away, in a cell plotting her brother's downfall.

Tinh shook his head, a physical gesture to rid his mind of paranoid or suspicious thoughts. He scowled at what the work was doing to him, crossing his arms and putting his feet up. At lunch he'd heard some stupid young noblewomen gossiping about plans evade Zuko's precautions that they wouldn't be able to see him practice firebending. Considering how their ringleader was missing, the girls seemed to be having much more fun than usual, though Tinh stopped listening when the conversation transformed from conspiracy to gossip about how attractive the Fire Lord was.

Tinh stood and stretched, noting once again the magnificent symphony of cracks his back was making when he'd been hunched over for so long. He grabbed a thin cloak to shield the Fire Nation's lowering temperature and clammy autumn humidity and stepped out of his suite as the sun slipped behind the horizon.

_I wonder if Mai can see the sun right now, in the Earth Kingdom… Of course not, fool! The sun sets in the west and the Earth Kingdom is east._Tinh tried to leave behind the involuntary thoughts of his cousin-in-law, though realized it was either futile or just very difficult. He decided to give the effort up, and allowed her to fill his thoughts as he walked aimlessly through the palace.

"Sir?" Tinh heard someone ask. He finally looked up to see two uniform guards. He was actually unable to tell which of the nameless men had spoken. He looked past them to the door they were guarding.

"I have authorization to be here," he said before thinking, impulsively taking a step forward. The guards stepped aside, one pushing the door open. Tinh walked through without waiting and the door closed behind him.

Only then did he analyze where he was, as he walked along the descending staircase, drawing his cloak closer against the mildew-laced dampness. He wondered how he was going to get to where he was walking, since he hardly remembered the way and didn't much think he meant to go there anyway. Yet somehow while Tinh battled within himself, he walked, turned, and kept walking through the dungeons, slowing over time. Until…

"Any particular reason you've graced me with another visit?" Azula asked civilly.

"You told me that a Fire Lord should care about injustices the people suffer. How do I know you'd be any fairer?" Tinh's lips spoke before he'd bidden them. "Why should I trust you?"

Azula's lips curled into a neutral smile. "Because I'm better than my brother. I've always been better than him. Better at bending, better with politics, and better to those who ally themselves with me. He broke Mai's heart—she's too strong to admit it, but he hurt her so deeply. All I ever was to her was a friend and ally. Zuko, for all his fine deeds, is cruel to those who stand with him."

"And you?" Tinh asked in derision.

"And how interested are you in seeing what kind of ally I really am?" Azula asked stepping to the bars and wrapping them with her exquisite fingers. Tinh looked her in the eyes with an expression she hadn't seen before. _Life._

"Very, interested, my Lady."

* * *

A/N: My, I dislike how slowly this is moving… I guess that comes from having the main characters all split up like this. Oh well. I haven't taken a month this time, though I make no promises on when the next chapter comes. 

In Christ,

ZFF


	20. Hiatus Repentance Chapter, will rename

Disclaimer: If I owned Avatar, all episodes up to "The Boiling Rock" would be on Turbonick™ and DVDs for fan purchase.

A/N: I promise that next time I go on hiatus, I will put that in the story description in big, friendly letters. And I'll send a mass produced message to reviewers.

* * *

"So, _Princess_ Azula," Tinh said, pacing back and forth with his eyes on the dethroned royal. "If I were going to consider allying myself with you, what would be in it for me? I already have rank and respect. I already have wealth. In mere months I could increase my holdings through prestigious marriage into any nation, with diplomatic perks. Why should I help you—a dethroned, disgraced, doomed, and nearly harmless royal whose days are numbered?"

Tinh had no explanation for the boldness he felt himself overtaken by. Perhaps, he reasoned, it was Zuko's continued disrespect and Azula's offer, perhaps it was his relative position over the haughty young woman, or perhaps it was the ink fumes and lack of sun. Or perhaps the way her eyes were flashing was hypnotizing him in the way he'd come to believe she'd hypnotized so many others.

"I don't know exactly what your death wish is, yet a multitude present themselves for my consideration," Azula replied simply as pairs or rough, hot hands grabbed Tinh and mercilessly ground him against the bars of Azula's cell. "Nobleman Tinh, where in that addled brain of yours did it seem like a prudent idea to speak to me in such a manner?" the tiger like woman asked as she paced. "I'm aware the Zuko is most inattentive to detail, though working you in such a manner as to produce this form of insanity is certainly more than his neglect. Open the cell and bring him in," she ordered what Tinh presumed to be some waiting guard.

The anonymous guard's keys clinked a heartless tone as they opened the door—quiet, simple noise with no rhyme or reason. Much the same spirit of the noise of his body being dropped in front of a tigress's feet.

"Now, let's think clearly, Tinh," she began. "If you refuse me, this guard will say you were conspiring with me. He's reputable, and he's even telling the truth. Zuko knows I have followers and with the kind of evidence I will have put before him, he will have no choice but to deal with you. Zuzu doesn't like being manipulated, but he will have to act accordingly. Do you know what that means, Nobleman? That means you will be imprisoned by my kind brother, so scared of drawing blood. And when you are in prison, you are my plaything. You will be beaten, you will be burned, you will be mistreated, and you will suffer the greatest disgrace I can bear to have you suffer for your traitorous acts. Then I will give you time to heal, form your scars, and then I will grant you your final request of death in the sting of salt waters as you are slowly, agonizingly eaten alive by shark-adders. Do you doubt what I say, Nobleman?"

"No," he gasped. "Feeling awfully blunt today, are we?" Tinh again saw Azula's eyes flash—a signal for the guard perhaps? His conclusions were drawn short by a kick to his ribcage that certainly broke one or more ribs.

"Careful now—we don't want a lung punctured. Remember—no visible bruising and we already need to treat the burn scars." Tinh's eyes snapped to Azula in what he was sure had to be a look of pure fear. Her apparent amusement at the gesture made Tinh's skin crawl. "All in good time, Nobleman. We're not done yet." Azula backed up and settled in her moth-eaten cot as regally as it were her more customary gold-leaf thrones. "You see, Nobleman, you made one cardinal mistake in dealing with me. My offer—as many like it—was merely a formality. I do not forbid people from declining most times—usually I simply impress upon them the fact that my intentions are more profitable. Yet with present conditions as they are, I'd rather not wait for you to see my path is the only one. You see, Nobleman Tinh, you mistakenly entered this meeting with the thought that you had some choice in the matter as to whether or not you will serve me."

Azula again stood, and beckoned to someone outside of Tinh's vision with her hand.

"My father was brilliant, and I've often seen the usefulness of falling back on his wisdom. You see, Nobleman, you were most disrespectful to me at the beginning of our little meeting. As the great Fire Lord Ozai said to Zuzu on one of the worst days of my brother's life, 'You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.' Open his shirt and hold him down," Azula said, directing her attention to two servant women and the guards.

As he was pushed to the floor, Tinh began to fight, thrashing wildly, making some feeble attempt to firebend at the people holding him to the ground. He felt his shirt rip and the hands of those holding him grew warmer and warmer, almost to burning. Still he fought, receiving more bruises and burns. He knew he was helpless, yet he couldn't stop fighting. Only the feeling of Azula's short, hard nails on his throat stopped his thrashing.

"Now now, Tinh—I've just had some trouble in the past with people not recognizing the fact of what's and who's mine is mine. All I'm going to do is make sure you never forget that fact. And don't thrash, Nobleman. My calligraphy will only hurt more if you do."

Tinh felt several tears leak from his eyes as a crone began to rub a soft, wet cloth over his chest and a blue flame burst from Azula's fingertips. She goaded it more, and the blue turned brighter and brighter, borderline white.

"Feel free to scream," she advised in a friendly manner, bringing her gruesome brush to its field.

* * *

"Uncle, I think I'm becoming paranoid," Zuko said to his chief adviser over tea. "It feels like everywhere I turn, there's always something more I must be concerned of."

The wizened general looked into his tea for a moment before answering. "In your situation, that is something of a common thing to feel. It is how you deal with that feeling that matters."

"I feel like I should be bringing Mai home since I haven't heard from her or the Kyoshi warriors in over a week. No newly sketched maps, no requests, not even a simple status report on how long she thinks it will take to get to the rendezvous with Sokka and Toph. I feel like I should have Tinh put under twenty-four hour watch for no apparent reason other than he seems to have some underlying disdain for me for no apparent reason and keeps asking about talking to Azula about her followers, which will obviously get him nowhere. I want to tell the nobles to go jump in a river because their daughters are some combination of incompetent, station grubbing, not unique by any stretch of the imagination, would do better for the Fire Nation by marrying foreigners, and hold no interest for me. I feel like handing this job over to someone else because I feel like I should be somewhere else. I should be with Mai, helping to atone for my family's past."

"And what do you plan to do about these feelings?" Iroh asked.

"Ignore them, stifle them, delay them, consider a few, and wait the rest out."

"Is that really the best option?" Iroh asked. "Is it so damaging to take perhaps six months for atonement of past wrongs? It would take you away from the noblemen's daughters. Or perhaps if they are so keen on being by your side, offer for them to come with you, helping rebuild in the Earth Kingdom."

Zuko laughed involuntarily. "Who besides Mai would spend six months in the Earth Kingdom trying to fix things my family did wrong—"

"—in order to become your wife?" Iroh finished for him. "Almost no one." He smiled secretively.

"I have paperwork to do," Zuko said, excusing himself.

* * *

_I absolutely despise traveling by Shirshu. I've always preferred land travel to water—too much movement all the time on water. At least on land travel, the movement stopped when you were sleeping. Mother always said I was merely over-sensitive. Even in a storm, I've never felt as sick on a ship as I have on the back of that retched beast. It makes no difference whether my eyes are open or closed. This woman guiding it—June—claims to have never met someone so susceptible to motion sickness on a Shirshu's back. Neko has advised me what to eat, how to sit, how to lean while I'm on that animal. Nothing helps._

_I despise the creature. Even though it's blind, it watches me as I write. I loathe it with such a great intensity. Neko has taken note of my mood towards it and has convinced herself that my dark mood is some after-after-effect of the poisoning. If Ty Lee were here she'd be critiquing my aura (probably say something about it being jet black or something like that)._

_A sensible way to travel is on mongoose dragon. Certainly they've only speed in short bursts, but that would have to be better than this. I don't care how much stamina the thing has—__**anything**__ from the Fire Nation would be better._

_I've been missing the Fire Nation lately. We've sent another hawk to Zuko, but I'm afraid that most of them may be intercepted. Ty Lee hasn't sent any more messages, though she's traveling to the coast to meet us and we don't know the routes the other party is taking._

_Strangely enough, in spite of the difficulty I have had with sleeping, dreaming is no problem. Almost every night I dream of Zuko. I thought I'd stopped feeling for him. These dreams seem to complicate that way of thinking. I think I miss him… I miss his voice and his face, even if he is so distant even when we're in the same room now._

_I must keep in mind to burn this diary the moment I'm back in the Fire Nation._

Mai closed the diary Tinh had given her and locked it. She looked up to see Neko giving her a smile. She rolled over and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would be soon in coming.

Sleep, and dreams, never came soon enough now.

* * *

A/N: There. It's short, but at least it focuses on the cardinal 3 canon characters. I'm not sure if this means I'm off hiatus, and I'll stop promising I'll try to get the next chapter up soon (I don't like lying to you, so I won't make myself a liar). And I'm aware that the characters seem a bit OC (or outrageously so, if you're so inclined to think), and that is a result of several factors: I've gotten out-of-touch with the story, writing Maiko isn't good for me after a while, and if this were zutara fic, it would seem slightly unnatural for the story to go so long without recognizing some affection/infatuation/love. So there.

In Christ,

ZFF


	21. Tangled

A/N:Yep. Hiatus. How about that. And I'm sorry to inform you that I'm updating this story more in hopes for reviews than any real drive to finish it at the moment. Don't get me wrong, it's annoying me just how long this has gone unfinished, but this is a work from a different stage of my development as a writer. I almost cringe at the thought of going back to read previous chapters and don't know _how_ I managed to get readers with them (other than the fact that you all are wonderful, forgiving people utterly lenient to a struggling author). No promises on where or when this is going, but by Dickens I want it finished.

* * *

"So, _Princess_ Azula," Tinh said, pacing back and forth with his eyes on the dethroned royal. "If I were going to consider allying myself with you, what would be in it for me? I already have rank and respect. I already have wealth. In mere months I could increase my holdings through prestigious marriage into any nation, with diplomatic perks. Why should I help you—a dethroned, disgraced, doomed, and nearly harmless royal daughter whose days are numbered?"

Tinh had no explanation for the boldness he felt himself overtaken by. Perhaps, he reasoned, it was Zuko's continued disrespect and Azula's offer, perhaps it was his relative position over the haughty young woman, or perhaps it was the ink fumes and lack of sun. Or it could be the way her eyes flashed was hypnotizing him in the way he'd come to believe she'd hypnotized so many others.

"I don't know exactly what your death wish is, yet a multitude of ways to satisfy it present themselves for my consideration," Azula replied simply as pairs or rough, hot hands grabbed Tinh and mercilessly ground him against the bars of Azula's cell. "Nobleman Tinh, where in that shade-addled brain of yours did it seem like a prudent idea to speak to me in such a manner?" the tiger-like woman asked as she paced. "I'm aware that Zuko is most inattentive to detail, though working you in such a manner as to produce this form of insanity is certainly more than my brother's neglect. Open the cell and bring him in," she ordered the waiting guard.

The anonymous guard's keys clinked a heartless tone as they opened the door—quiet, simple noise mirthless and purposeful. It had much the same spirit of the noise as his body was dropped in front of a tigress's feet.

"Now, let's think clearly, Tinh," she began. "If you refuse me, this guard will say you were conspiring with me. He's reputable, and he's even telling the truth. Zuko knows I have followers and with the kind of evidence implicating you in the most undeniable ways I will have my people place before him, he will have no choice but to deal with you. Zuzu doesn't like being manipulated, but he is so easy to drive, and as Fire Lord he will be trapped in the decision to deal with you." The woman sighed, uncrossing her arms to stroke her chin. "Do you know what that means, Nobleman? That means you will be imprisoned by my kind brother, so scared of drawing blood. It's hard to believe I got _all _the backbone in the family, but it seems so… And when you are in prison, Nobleman Tinh, you are my plaything. You will be beaten, you will be burned, you will be mistreated in ways not to be spoken of in my presence, and you will suffer the greatest disgrace I can bear to have you suffer for your traitorous acts. Then I will give you time to heal, form your scars, and then I will grant you your final request of death in the sting of salt waters as you are slowly, agonizingly eaten alive by shark-adders. Do you doubt what I say, Nobleman?"

"No," he gasped. "Feeling awfully blunt today, are we?" Tinh again saw Azula's eyes flash—a signal for the guard perhaps? His conclusions were drawn short by a kick to his ribcage that couldn't have broken fewer than five ribs.

"Careful now—we don't want a lung punctured. Remember—no visible bruising and we already need to treat the burn scars." Tinh's eyes snapped to Azula in what he was sure had to be a look of pure fear. Her apparent amusement at the gesture made Tinh's skin crawl. "All in good time, Nobleman. We're not done yet." Azula backed up and settled in her moth-eaten cot as regally as though it were a gold-leaf throne. "You see, Nobleman, you made one cardinal mistake in dealing with me. My offer—like so many similar to it—was merely a formality. I do not forbid people from declining most times—usually I simply impress upon them the fact that my intentions are more profitable. Yet with present conditions as they are, I'd rather not wait for you to see my path is the only one. You see, Nobleman Tinh, you mistakenly entered this meeting with the thought that you had some choice in the matter as to whether or not you will serve me."

Azula again stood, and beckoned to someone outside of Tinh's vision with her hand.

"My father was brilliant, and I've often seen the usefulness of falling back on his wisdom. You see, Nobleman, you were most disrespectful to me at the beginning of our little meeting. As the great Fire Lord Ozai said to Zuzu on one of the worst days of my brother's life, 'You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher.' Open his shirt and hold him down," Azula said, directing her attention to two servant women and the guards.

As he was pushed to the floor, Tinh began to fight, thrashing wildly, making some feeble attempt to firebend at the people holding him to the ground. He felt his shirt rip and the hands of those holding him grew warmer and warmer, almost to burning. Still he fought, receiving more bruises and burns. He refused to believe he was helpless, still fighting even as he felt Azula's short, hard nails on his throat.

"Now now, Tinh—I've just had some trouble in the past with people not recognizing the fact of what's and who's mine is mine. All I'm going to do is make sure you never forget that fact. And don't thrash, Nobleman. My calligraphy will only hurt more if you do."

Tinh felt several tears leak from his eyes as a crone began to rub a soft, wet cloth over his chest and a blue flame burst from Azula's fingertips. She goaded it more, and the blue turned brighter and brighter, borderline white.

"Feel free to scream," she advised in a friendly manner, bringing her gruesome brush to its field.

* * *

"Uncle, I think I'm becoming paranoid," Zuko said to his chief adviser over tea. "It feels like everywhere I turn, there's always something more I have to be concerned about."

The wizened general looked into his tea for a moment before answering. "In your situation, that is something of a common thing to feel. It is how you deal with that feeling that matters."

"I feel like I should be bringing Mai home since I haven't heard from her or the Kyoshi warriors in over a week. No newly sketched maps, no requests, not even a simple status report on how long she thinks it will take to get to the rendezvous with Sokka and Toph. I feel like I should have Tinh put under twenty-four hour watch for no apparent reason other than he seems to have some underlying disdain for me for no apparent reason. I feel like accusing him of treason each time he asks about talking to Azula about her followers—which will obviously get him nowhere. I want to tell the nobles to go jump in a river because their daughters are some combination of incompetent, station grubbing, not unique by any stretch of the imagination, would do better for the Fire Nation by marrying foreigners, and hold no interest for me. I feel like handing this job over to someone else because I feel like I should be somewhere else. I should be with Mai, helping to atone for my family's past."

"And what do you plan to do about these feelings?" Iroh asked.

"Ignore them, stifle them, delay them, consider a few, and wait the rest out."

"Is that really the best option?" Iroh asked. "Is it so damaging to take perhaps six months for atonement of past wrongs? It would take you away from the noblemen's daughters. Or perhaps if they are so keen on being by your side, offer for them to come with you, helping rebuild in the Earth Kingdom."

Zuko laughed involuntarily. "Who besides Mai would spend six months in the Earth Kingdom trying to fix things my family did wrong—"

"—in order to become your wife?" Iroh finished for him. "Almost no one." He smiled secretively.

"I have paperwork to do," Zuko said, excusing himself.

_

* * *

_

I absolutely despise traveling by Shirshu. I've always preferred land travel to water—too much movement all the time on water. At least on land travel, the movement stopped when you were sleeping. Mother always said I was merely over-sensitive. But even in high storms, I've never felt as sick on a ship as I have on the back of that retched beast. It makes no difference whether my eyes are open or closed. This woman guiding it—June—claims to have never met someone so susceptible to motion sickness on a Shirshu's back. Neko has advised me what to eat, how to sit, how to lean while I'm on that animal. Nothing helps.

_I despise the creature. Even though it's blind, it watches me as I write. I loathe it with such a great intensity. Neko has taken note of my mood towards it and has convinced herself that my dark mood is some after-after-effect of the poisoning. If Ty Lee were here she'd be critiquing my aura (probably say something about it being jet black or something like that)._

_A sensible way to travel is on mongoose dragon. Certainly they've only speed in short bursts, but that would have to be better than this. I don't care how much stamina the thing has—__**anything**__ from the Fire Nation would be better._

_I've been missing the Fire Nation lately. We've sent another hawk to Zuko, but I'm afraid that most of them may be intercepted. Ty Lee hasn't sent any more messages, though she's traveling to the coast to meet us and we don't know the routes the other party is taking._

_Strangely enough, in spite of the difficulty I have had with sleeping, dreaming is no problem. Almost every night I dream of Zuko. I thought I'd stopped feeling for him. These dreams seem to complicate that way of thinking. I think I miss him… I miss his voice and his face, even if he is so distant even when we're in the same room now._

_I must keep in mind to burn this diary the moment I'm back in the Fire Nation._

Mai closed the diary Tinh had given her and locked it. She looked up to see Neko giving her a smile. She rolled over and closed her eyes, hoping sleep would be soon in coming.

Sleep, and dreams, never came soon enough now.

* * *

A/N: There. It's shorter than most, but at least it focuses on the cardinal 3 canon characters. I'm not sure if this means I'm off hiatus, and I'll stop promising I'll try to get the next chapter up soon (I don't like lying to you, so I won't make myself a liar).

In Christ,

ZN (and that's a change since last time…)


End file.
